The photo is sourced from cleandex.ru
Unlike most conventional hydroelectric power plants, a PSPP is equipped with not one but two reservoirs with elevation differences: in the hours of low demand, water is pumped from the lower reservoir into the upper one using electricity from the common grid, and when the load on the grid goes up, water gets discharged into the lower reservoir, setting off power generators. This way, PSPPs provide the possibility of storing energy, and their efficiency (ratio of regenerated electricity to stored kinetic electricity) does not depend on the number of charge-discharge cycles. They also have the advantage of longevity: the service life of lithium-ion batteries is no more than 15 years, while that of PSPPs exceeds 75 years.
Finally, PSPP operation does not involve the risk of technologies becoming obsolete, which is typical for energy accumulators, especially taking into account the emergence of alternatives to lithium-ion batteries, such as zinc-bromine batteries. The latter use a chemical reaction between bromine and zinc to produce an electric current, and a solution of bromide chloride to make it conductive. In flow batteries, this solution takes the form of a liquid, while non-flow batteries use a gel, but in both cases zinc-bromine batteries are resistant to high temperatures and do not require the use of cooling and fire protection systems.
China’s leadership in the rate of bringing new PSPPs into operation is no accident. Pumped storage power plants make it possible to use excess electricity from wind and solar generators, which China also holds the lead in putting onstream. According to IRENA, China accounted for 65% of wind power plants (75.9 GW out of 116.0 GW) and 63% of solar panels (216.9 GW out of 345.5 GW) launched worldwide in 2023. The development of renewables in China is facilitated by the domestic raw material base: the United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that in 2022 China accounted for 79% of silicon metal, the main material in solar panels.
