If pumped hydro plants that use the sea as the lower reservoir can be put into large-scale operation Chile would be able to install at least 10 TWh of pumped hydro storage along its northern coast. With it Chile could convert enough intermittent solar into dispatchable form to replace all of its current fossil fuel generation, and at a levelized cost of electricity (provisionally estimated at around $80/MWh) that would be competitive with most other dispatchable generation sources. Northern Chile’s impressive pumped hydro potential is a result of the existence of natural depressions at elevations of 500m or more adjacent to the coast that can hold very large volumes of sea water and which form ready-made upper reservoirs.
Valhalla’s pumped hydro plant
My recent review of the Valhalla solar/pumped hydro storage project is what set me to wondering how much untapped pumped hydro potential there might be in Northern Chile, so I begin with a brief recap of pumped hydro potential there.
Read the rest here: http://euanmearns.com/how-chiles-electricity-sector-can-go-100-renewable/
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