Study on feasibility of small-scale pumped hydro storage- A case study in Sweden

Sammanfattning: The European union has been aggressively pushing forward with policies favoring renewable sources of energy. As a result, the share of intermittent renewables in the European power grid is rising and is expected to grow even more in the coming decade. The Swedish energy agency also forecast huge growth in wind power. This creates a parallel growing demand for electricity storage solutions for both the short and long term. Pumped hydro currently tops the chart for installed electricity storage, and it is the most mature technology available in the market. But, due to site limitations the growth of PHS has been slowed down, basically stopped in case of Sweden. Recently, there has been development of new technologies for modular small scale pumped hydro that provide more flexibility with location. This thesis studies a case for feasibility of smaller pumped hydro in Sweden through integration of new technologies and analyzes its business case with respect to future market. The investment cost is broken down, for understanding the cost drivers, which shows that electromechanical equipment dominates the investment expenditure. The potential business case using two new technologies, that is floating machine platform and submersible pump-turbine is explored. The sensitivity analysis on different cost components, as well as the study of different revenue streams, hints that under the present market conditions the investment is uncertain without some subsidies. Nevertheless, some improvements on the operating strategy and integration with different RS can increase the case for profitability.