IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v211y2025ics1364032125000346.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The potential role of seasonal pumped hydropower storage in decarbonizing the power sector in Saudi Arabia

Author

Listed:
  • Hunt, Julian David
  • Odeh, Naser
  • Hejazi, Mohamed
  • Kamboj, Puneet
  • Osipov, Sergey
  • Wada, Yoshihide

Abstract

In line with the broader ambitions of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia aims to achieve greenhouse gas net zero emissions by 2060. At the heart of this ambition is decarbonizing the power generation sector with a commitment to 50 % of power generation capacity from renewables by 2030. Despite the affordability of renewable power generation options, long-term renewable energy storage solutions are still expensive. This paper investigates the role that seasonal pumped hydro storage (SPHS) can play in renewable energy storage and, hence, decarbonizing power generation in Saudi Arabia. SPHS is a practical approach for storing energy seasonaly in Saudi Arabia because the country has a large demand for seawater desalination, and by storing desalinated water, we indirectly store the energy required to desalinate the seawater, which is substatial. Ten proposed SPHS locations have been analyzed across the Kingdom. The study identified two attractive SPHS locations requiring an investment of around 16.5 billion USD to store 6.2 km3/yr for 15 to 22 USD/MWh of electricity and with a total seasonal compensation (SC, defined as the energy saving in the summer as a result of storing desalinated water in the winter) of around 69 TWh/y. Further work is needed to evaluate the impact of the share of renewable capacity on the feasibility of SPHS. This paper shows that SPHS can potentially contribute to the decarbonization of the power sector in Saudi Arabia and the balancing of the electricity grid as part of a full suite of energy storage options.

Suggested Citation

  • Hunt, Julian David & Odeh, Naser & Hejazi, Mohamed & Kamboj, Puneet & Osipov, Sergey & Wada, Yoshihide, 2025. "The potential role of seasonal pumped hydropower storage in decarbonizing the power sector in Saudi Arabia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:211:y:2025:i:c:s1364032125000346
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2025.115361
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032125000346
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2025.115361?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Segurado, R. & Costa, M. & Duić, N. & Carvalho, M.G., 2015. "Integrated analysis of energy and water supply in islands. Case study of S. Vicente, Cape Verde," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(P3), pages 639-648.
    2. Bueno, C. & Carta, J.A., 2006. "Wind powered pumped hydro storage systems, a means of increasing the penetration of renewable energy in the Canary Islands," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 312-340, August.
    3. Hunt, Julian David & Zakeri, Behnam & Lopes, Rafael & Barbosa, Paulo Sérgio Franco & Nascimento, Andreas & Castro, Nivalde José de & Brandão, Roberto & Schneider, Paulo Smith & Wada, Yoshihide, 2020. "Existing and new arrangements of pumped-hydro storage plants," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    4. Yosef Alamri & Khalid Alrwis & Adel Ghanem & Sahar Kamara & Sharafeldin Alaagib & Nageeb Aldawdahi, 2023. "The Economic Nexus between Energy, Water Consumption, and Food Production in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-16, April.
    5. Julian D. Hunt & Edward Byers & Yoshihide Wada & Simon Parkinson & David E. H. J. Gernaat & Simon Langan & Detlef P. Vuuren & Keywan Riahi, 2020. "Global resource potential of seasonal pumped hydropower storage for energy and water storage," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-8, December.
    6. Aya Tafech & Dia Milani & Ali Abbas, 2016. "Water Storage Instead of Energy Storage for Desalination Powered by Renewable Energy—King Island Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-17, October.
    7. Itani, Youssef & Soliman, Mohamed Reda & Kahil, Maher, 2020. "Recovering energy by hydro-turbines application in water transmission pipelines: A case study west of Saudi Arabia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    8. Jurasz, Jakub & Piasecki, Adam & Hunt, Julian & Zheng, Wandong & Ma, Tao & Kies, Alexander, 2022. "Building integrated pumped-storage potential on a city scale: An analysis based on geographic information systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    9. Segurado, R. & Madeira, J.F.A. & Costa, M. & Duić, N. & Carvalho, M.G., 2016. "Optimization of a wind powered desalination and pumped hydro storage system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 487-499.
    10. Carlos Vargas-Salgado & César Berna-Escriche & Alberto Escrivá-Castells & Dácil Díaz-Bello, 2022. "Optimization of All-Renewable Generation Mix According to Different Demand Response Scenarios to Cover All the Electricity Demand Forecast by 2040: The Case of the Grand Canary Island," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-29, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hunt, Julian David & Nascimento, Andreas & Zakeri, Behnam & Jurasz, Jakub & Dąbek, Paweł B. & Barbosa, Paulo Sergio Franco & Brandão, Roberto & de Castro, Nivalde José & Leal Filho, Walter & Riahi, Ke, 2022. "Lift Energy Storage Technology: A solution for decentralized urban energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PA).
    2. Hunt, Julian David & Nascimento, Andreas & Zakeri, Behnam & Barbosa, Paulo Sérgio Franco, 2022. "Hydrogen Deep Ocean Link: a global sustainable interconnected energy grid," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    3. Hussein M. Maghrabie & Abdul Ghani Olabi & Ahmed Rezk & Ali Radwan & Abdul Hai Alami & Mohammad Ali Abdelkareem, 2023. "Energy Storage for Water Desalination Systems Based on Renewable Energy Resources," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-34, March.
    4. Su, Chengguo & Cheng, Chuntian & Wang, Peilin & Shen, Jianjian & Wu, Xinyu, 2019. "Optimization model for long-distance integrated transmission of wind farms and pumped-storage hydropower plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 285-293.
    5. Meschede, Henning, 2019. "Increased utilisation of renewable energies through demand response in the water supply sector – A case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 810-817.
    6. Vakilifard, Negar & A. Bahri, Parisa & Anda, Martin & Ho, Goen, 2019. "An interactive planning model for sustainable urban water and energy supply," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 332-345.
    7. Hunt, Julian David & Jurasz, Jakub & Zakeri, Behnam & Nascimento, Andreas & Cross, Samuel & Caten, Carla Schwengber ten & de Jesus Pacheco, Diego Augusto & Pongpairoj, Pharima & Filho, Walter Leal & T, 2022. "Electric Truck Hydropower, a flexible solution to hydropower in mountainous regions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    8. Cabrera, Pedro & Lund, Henrik & Carta, José A., 2018. "Smart renewable energy penetration strategies on islands: The case of Gran Canaria," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 421-443.
    9. Simon Lineykin & Abhishek Sharma & Moshe Averbukh, 2023. "Eventual Increase in Solar Electricity Production and Desalinated Water through the Formation of a Channel between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-17, May.
    10. Papadakis C. Nikolaos & Fafalakis Marios & Katsaprakakis Dimitris, 2023. "A Review of Pumped Hydro Storage Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-39, June.
    11. Gils, Hans Christian & Simon, Sonja, 2017. "Carbon neutral archipelago – 100% renewable energy supply for the Canary Islands," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 342-355.
    12. Hunt, Julian David & Nascimento, Andreas & Caten, Carla Schwengber ten & Tomé, Fernanda Munari Caputo & Schneider, Paulo Smith & Thomazoni, André Luis Ribeiro & Castro, Nivalde José de & Brandão, Robe, 2022. "Energy crisis in Brazil: Impact of hydropower reservoir level on the river flow," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PA).
    13. Boroomandnia, Arezoo & Rismanchi, Behzad & Wu, Wenyan, 2022. "A review of micro hydro systems in urban areas: Opportunities and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    14. de Oliveira, Glauber Cardoso & Bertone, Edoardo & Stewart, Rodney A., 2022. "Challenges, opportunities, and strategies for undertaking integrated precinct-scale energy–water system planning," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    15. Julian David Hunt & Behnam Zakeri & Jakub Jurasz & Wenxuan Tong & Paweł B. Dąbek & Roberto Brandão & Epari Ritesh Patro & Bojan Đurin & Walter Leal Filho & Yoshihide Wada & Bas van Ruijven & Keywan Ri, 2023. "Underground Gravity Energy Storage: A Solution for Long-Term Energy Storage," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-20, January.
    16. Zhou, Yanlai & Ning, Zhihao & Huang, Kangkang & Guo, Shenglian & Xu, Chong-Yu & Chang, Fi-John, 2025. "Sustainable energy integration: Enhancing the complementary operation of pumped-storage power and hydropower systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    17. Javed, Muhammad Shahzad & Ma, Tao & Jurasz, Jakub & Amin, Muhammad Yasir, 2020. "Solar and wind power generation systems with pumped hydro storage: Review and future perspectives," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 176-192.
    18. Mahfoud, Rabea Jamil & Alkayem, Nizar Faisal & Zhang, Yuquan & Zheng, Yuan & Sun, Yonghui & Alhelou, Hassan Haes, 2023. "Optimal operation of pumped hydro storage-based energy systems: A compendium of current challenges and future perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    19. Hunt, Julian David & Zakeri, Behnam & Lopes, Rafael & Barbosa, Paulo Sérgio Franco & Nascimento, Andreas & Castro, Nivalde José de & Brandão, Roberto & Schneider, Paulo Smith & Wada, Yoshihide, 2020. "Existing and new arrangements of pumped-hydro storage plants," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    20. Yuan, Wenlin & Xin, Wenpeng & Su, Chengguo & Cheng, Chuntian & Yan, Denghua & Wu, Zening, 2022. "Cross-regional integrated transmission of wind power and pumped-storage hydropower considering the peak shaving demands of multiple power grids," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 1112-1126.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:211:y:2025:i:c:s1364032125000346. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.