East Asia could surpass global pumped storage capacity goals

POWER UTILITY

East Asia, led by China, alone could already achieve the 420-gigawatt (GW) target of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) for pumped storage capacity globally by 2050.

Aremarkable trend has emerged in the global energy investment landscape. Investment in clean energy technology is set to rise to US$1.7t this year, overtaking investments in fossil fuels. This shift reflects a growing emphasis on sustainability and renewable energy sources.

According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) report, this makes up a portion of the estimated US$2.8t investment in energy this year. The US$1.7t will likely fund renewables, electric vehicles, nuclear power, grids, storage, low-emissions fuels, efficiency improvements, and heat pumps amongst others. The remaining amount, which is slightly over US$1t, will likely fund coal, gas, and oil.

“Clean energy is moving fast – faster than many people realise. This is clear in the investment trends, where clean technologies are pulling away from fossil fuels,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said.

“For every dollar invested in fossil fuels, about 1.7 dollars are now going into clean energy. Five years ago, this ratio was one-to-one. One shining example is investment in solar, sets to overtake the amount of investment going into oil production for the first time,” Birol noted.

The IEA added that investment in clean energy is expected to increase by 24% annually between 2021 and 2023. This is higher compared to the 15% annual growth for fossil fuel investment.

IEA, however, noted that 90% of the projected growth in investment is driven by advanced economies and China, which the agency flagged as a “serious risk of new dividing lines in global energy if clean energy transitions don’t pick up elsewhere.”

Low-emissions electricity technologies are expected to receive the lion’s share of investment as it is projected to account for 90% of investments in power generation. This is led mostly by solar power-related technology.

In 2022, investment in clean energy technology exceeded $1.4t, accounting for about 70% of the year-on-year growth in the total energy investment. This is also an increase from around $1t in 2015.

The IEA said renewables, power grids, and energy storage comprised over 80% of the nearly $1t total investment in the power sector led by solar. This is an increase from 75% of the around $800b investments in 2018.

On the other hand, the share of fossil fuel power declined to 10% from around 20% over the same period, with the total investment in oil, gas, and coal reaching above $800b in 2022 from over $1t in 2015.

Though IEA has noted, the world still highly relies on fossil fuels for energy supply despite the recent developments in clean energy tech, with its overall share in the mix remaining at about 80%.

In the Global Hydropower Tracker, Global Energy Monitor (GEM) found that East Asia has a total of 425 GW of pumped storage capacity, both operating and prospective or those that have been announced, in preconstruction, or in construction stages. The region’s capacity represents 73% of the world’s total.

An IRENA Modelling suggested that the world would need 420 GW of pumped storage hydropower could meet climate goals by 2050 under the Paris Agreement.

According to GEM, pumped storage only accounts for 14% or 161 GW of all operating hydropower projects with at least 75-megawatts (MW) of nameplate capacity, whilst the remaining are conventional storage or run-of-river.

On the other hand, pumped storage comprises 49% or 439 GW of the prospective capacity.

“Pumped storage capacity is set to grow much faster than conventional dams worldwide, and China is the clearest example of this trend,” said

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Joe Bernardi, project manager for the Global Hydropower Tracker.

“Pumped storage and hydropower are an integral part of the global energy transition, and the rest of the world should take note of the build-out in Eastern Asia,” he added.

Leading hydropower markets

China leads the operating pumped storage hydropower market with 51 GW, 30% of the global total. Next is Japan with 24 GW (14%), the United States with 22 GW (13%), Italy with 8 GW (5%), then Germany with 6 GW (4%).

China is also the market with the most prospective pumper storage hydropower with 407 GW in the pipeline, 82% of the total globally, then India with 16 GW (3%), Australia with 14 GW (3%), the US with 14 GW (3%), and the UK with 6 GW (1%).

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Alterenergy Holdings Corp. and its subsidiary Solar Pacific Energy Corporation commissioned the first solar photovoltaic (PV)-battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Palau.

The solar PV-BESS project has a capacity of 15.3 megawatts (MW)-peak solar PV, and 12.9 MW-hour BESS, one of the biggest foreign direct investments in the country with a total cost of US$29m.

Alterenergy Chairman Vicente S. Perez said the project will contribute to Palau’s 45% renewable energy target in its power generation by 2025.

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) has started the commercial operation of a 3-megawatt (MW) solar power plant and 4-MW battery energy storage system project.

The project forms part of the Smart Grid Pilot Project in Mae Hong Son Province, which is being developed as a green tourism city.

It aims to enhance the power system security in Mae Hong Son Province due to many power outage problems occurring in the province, said Chaiwut Lakmuang, EGAT Assistant Governor.

The Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL), through its subsidiary Adani Wind Energy Kutchh Five Limited, commissioned a 130-megawatt (MW) wind power at Kutchh in Gujarat.

AGEL said the power plant is under a 25-year power purchase agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of India at around US$0.035 (INR2.83) per kilowatt-hour.

The commissioning totaled the operational wind generation capacity to 1,101 MW and its operational renewable generation capacity to 8,216 MW.