Hydro storage

Solar and Wind power produce intermittent energy. Therefore they require large energy batteries that can store full days of energy and provide it to the user at peak time to be truly effective.
Similarly in Pakistan, during summer peak time, there is excessive demand for electricity but during the rest of the year, the demand is normal. To overcome this high peak energy demand in Pakistan, we need to increase energy storage to cover the peak demand.
Storing energy can be very expensive if using batteries. Energy nowadays is also stored by using blocks conserving potential energy by storing them at heights. The cheapest and most efficient method of storing energy is Pumped Hydro.
In Pumped Hydro, water is pumped from a lake at a lower elevation to a lake at a higher elevation, using excess renewable energy during early daytime. When energy demand peaks, the water from the higher lake is released to the lower lake, passing through turbines that produce energy that is supplied to the grid.
Unfortunately finding suitable locations for Pumped Hydro energy storage was always a challenge until now. Using satellite images suitable locations can easily be mapped.
The Australian Government has released a worldwide database of all potential sites for Pumped Hydro called the National Map.
The sites show over a hundred suitable locations for Pumped Hydro in Pakistan.
I, therefore, request the Government of Pakistan to use the National Map database to construct Pumped Hydro Power stations in Pakistan, especially near big cities. These large energy storage systems will help Pakistan overcome the peak time load shedding and also reduce the stress on Pakistan’s power system.
SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER P.ENGR.,
Peshawar.