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An Exploratory Economic Analysis of Underground Pumped-Storage Hydro Power Plants in Abandoned Deep Coal Mines

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  • Reinhard Madlener

    (Institute for Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN), E.ON Energy Research Center/School of Business and Economics, RWTH Aachen University, Mathieustrasse 10, 52074 Aachen, Germany
    Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Sentralbygg I, Gløshaugen, 7491 Trondheim, Norway)

  • Jan Martin Specht

    (Institute for Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN), E.ON Energy Research Center/School of Business and Economics, RWTH Aachen University, Mathieustrasse 10, 52074 Aachen, Germany)

Abstract

This study researches the concept of underground pumped-storage hydro power plants in closed-down underground hard coal mines in Germany. After a review on how this could be realized technically, an economic feasibility analysis is presented, with a particular focus on the costs for the underground storage reservoir. The analysis is performed for different lower (i.e., underground) reservoir sizes and temporal arbitrage potentials (peak/off-peak electricity price spreads), and cost uncertainty is dealt with by means of a Monte Carlo simulation for two distinct head heights. The findings regarding costs and acceptability are compared with those of a classic (on-surface) pumped-storage hydro power plant in a mountainous area. Based on a techno-economic evaluation we conclude that under favorable conditions the realization of underground pumped-storage hydro power (UPSHP) plants seems both technically feasible and economically reasonable. More specifically, an extension of a tubular system seems the most promising option. A UPSHP plant in a mineshaft is probably slightly more expensive than a conventional one, an outcome that depends strongly on the feasible head height. However, the significant reduction of the adverse impacts on the landscape and on local residents, as well as a potentially large number of feasible sites in flat terrain, could make UPSHPs an interesting option for the future energy transition, not just in Germany but worldwide at sites where underground mining is being abandoned.

Suggested Citation

  • Reinhard Madlener & Jan Martin Specht, 2020. "An Exploratory Economic Analysis of Underground Pumped-Storage Hydro Power Plants in Abandoned Deep Coal Mines," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-22, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:21:p:5634-:d:435991
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Michael Wessel & Reinhard Madlener & Christoph Hilgers, 2020. "Economic Feasibility of Semi-Underground Pumped Storage Hydropower Plants in Open-Pit Mines," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-38, August.
    3. Vasileios Kitsikoudis & Pierre Archambeau & Benjamin Dewals & Estanislao Pujades & Philippe Orban & Alain Dassargues & Michel Pirotton & Sebastien Erpicum, 2020. "Underground Pumped-Storage Hydropower (UPSH) at the Martelange Mine (Belgium): Underground Reservoir Hydraulics," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-16, July.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Xin Lyu & Ke Yang & Juejing Fang & Jinzhou Tang & Yu Wang, 2022. "Feasibility Study of Construction of Pumped Storage Power Station Using Abandoned Mines: A Case Study of the Shitai Mine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Candra Saigustia & Sylwester Robak, 2021. "Review of Potential Energy Storage in Abandoned Mines in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, October.
    4. Shan, Rui & Reagan, Jeremiah & Castellanos, Sergio & Kurtz, Sarah & Kittner, Noah, 2022. "Evaluating emerging long-duration energy storage technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    5. Héctor Álvarez & Guillermo Domínguez & Almudena Ordóñez & Javier Menéndez & Rodrigo Álvarez & Jorge Loredo, 2021. "Mine Water for the Generation and Storage of Renewable Energy: A Hybrid Hydro–Wind System," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-18, June.
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