Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) is the largest existing source of utility-scale electricity storage, making it a proven technology to enhance grid reliability and help integrate variable resources like wind and solar photovoltaics. This webinar introduces a new dataset to help determine the role PSH can play in the future electric grid—the first-ever U.S.-focused national resource assessment of closed-loop PSH sites, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. The webinar will describe how this dataset was created to identify locations and cost of nearly 15,000 sites with 35 TWh of energy storage technical potential (3.5 TW of generating capacity at 10 hours of storage).

The data can be used by analysts and decision-makers across the public, private, and non-profit sectors. The webinar will share an example where an electricity capacity expansion model uses the PSH resource data to simulate scenarios for future PSH deployment in the United States, and demonstrate an interactive map and website that explores potential closed-loop PSH locations and their characteristics.