Andrew Blakers is Professor of Engineering at the Australian National University. He was a Humboldt Fellow and has held Australian Research Council QEII and Senior Research Fellowships. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering, the Institute of Energy and the Institute of Physics, and is a Public Policy Fellow at ANU. His research interests are in the areas of photovoltaic and solar energy systems including, tandem solar cells and PV components and systems. He has extensive experience with basic and applied research, and led the team that developed PERC solar cell technology. He also has interest in sustainable energy policy, and is engaged in detailed analysis of energy systems with high (50-100%) penetration by wind and photovoltaics with support from pumped hydro energy storage.

演讲摘要: Pumped hydro energy storage is the lowest-cost storage technology and comprises about 97% of all storage world-wide. We surveyed Australia and found 22,000 good pumped hydro sites, most of them off-river (closed loop). The combined energy storage potential is 67 Terawatt hours, which is about 150 times more than required to support a 100% renewable electricity grid. We modelled a 100% renewable electricity system for Australia and found that the cost of hourly balancing (over and above the cost of PV and wind generation) is only about US$20/MWh. The balancing cost comprises pumped hydro storage, additional long-distance transmission and occasional spillage of PV and wind. Initial site searching suggests that the USA has 100-1000 times more pumped hydro sites than needed to support a 100% renewable electricity grid. China also has very extensive mountainous regions that are suitable for pumped hydro. We conclude that pumped hydro storage can facilitate 100% renewable electricity in many regions of the world.