Background

Pumped storage hydropower is a proven technology currently accounting for over 90 per cent of the world’s utility-scale energy storage applications. With the rapid growth of renewables across Asia and the Pacific, pumped storage hydropower will have an increasingly important role in integrating variable renewables and ensuring power system reliability. In many of the developing economies in the region, energy storage markets are still nascent yet there is vast potential for development.

The side event will bring together policymakers, investors, project developers, and experts to discuss and explore the need for long-duration energy storage, set out the technology options available and what policy and regulatory changes are needed in the context of Asia-Pacific.

This session builds upon findings from the International Forum on Pumped Storage Hydropower, a government-led initiative led by IHA and U.S. Department of Energy that brings together over 70 organizations, 13 national governments, multilateral development banks and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), with the Asian Development Bank, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka on its Steering Committee. It will deliver its recommendations in September 2021. It is expected that many of the recommendations of the Forum will be cross-cutting and be applicable to other long-duration storage technologies.

Objectives

At this event, you will hear:

  • How long duration energy storage, such as pumped storage hydropower, can meet a range of energy needs in Asia-Pacific
  • The scale of energy storage needs and the untapped potential for pumped storage hydropower in the region.
  • The policy and market mechanisms necessary to provide revenue certainty and de-risk investment for the deployment of long duration energy storage.
  • Experience and expert insights on the challenge and opportunities for pumped storage hydropower.

Agenda

Time (Manila) Activities
08:00-08:10 p.m. Opening and Introduction to the International Forum on Pumped Storage Hydropower
08:10-08:20 p.m. Exploration of ANU Global Pumped Hydro Atlas
By Dr Matthew Stocks, Australian National University
08:20-08:30 p.m. Pumped Storage Hydropower Development in China
By Dr. Yuetao Xie, Deputy Director, Department of International Cooperation, China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute
08:30-08:40 p.m. Experience from Hydro Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation
By Mr. Paul Molnar, Project Director, Hydro Tasmania
08:40-08:50 p.m. The Vision for Pumped Storage Hydropower in Sri Lanka
By Dr. Kamal Laksiri, Project Director of Broadlands hydropower Project, Ceylon Electricity Board
08:50-09:00 p.m. The Role of PSH in Future Electricity Systems – Sharing Insights from APEC Workshop on PSH
By Prof. Jamie Pittock, Australian National University
09:00-09:20 p.m. Questions and answers
09:20-09:30 p.m. Summary

Learn More about Speakers

Download Draft Summary of Emerging Findings

About Organizers

The International Forum on Pumped Storage Hydropower is a government-led multi-stakeholder platform to shape and enhance the role of pumped storage hydropower in future power systems co-chaired by the U.S. Department of Energy and the former Prime Minister of Australia Hon. Malcolm Turnbull.

The Forum brings together 13 governments – the USA, Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Estonia, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel, Morocco, Norway, Sri Lanka and Switzerland - international financial institutions, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and over 70 organisations, including energy companies, academia and NGOs to develop guidance and recommendations on how sustainable pumped storage hydropower can best support the energy transition.

International Hydropower Association (IHA) acts as the secretariat to the Forum.

To learn more, please visit: https://pumped-storage-forum.hydropower.org/

Point of Contact

Samuel Law, International Hydropower Association
Email: [email protected]