The Coal-Killing Combo Of Hydropower And Energy Storage

Support CleanTechnica’s work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

When US President Donald Trump declared an “energy emergency” on January 20 of last year, he tapped the nation’s hydropower industry for preferential treatment alongside coal and other fossil fuels. And so, it is no surprise to see the US Department of Energy issuing a new report that outlines the economic benefits of adding battery energy storage systems to hydropower facilities.

The New Hydropower Report

To be clear, the “energy emergency” is somewhat muddled in terms of renewable resources. In addition to hydropower, the President name-checked geothermal energy for protected status in his January 20th energy emergency declaration. On the other hand, the President’s “Unleashing American Energy” executive order, issued on the same day, left out the geothermal but kept the hydropower, and added biofuels.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright attempted to clarify matters in his first secretarial order, dated February 5, in which he stated that the Energy Department’s priorities include “fossil fuels, advanced nuclear, geothermal, and hydropower.”

Somehow biofuels got the short end of the stick on February 5. However, the focus on hydropower and other related water-based technologies has remained consistent throughout, as most recently underscored by a report from the Energy Department’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

In a nutshell, researchers at PNNL describe cost savings and new opportunities for revenue generation when excess hydropower is diverted to BESS (battery energy storage systems). The new report found significant benefits with a 60-megawatt lithium-ion BESS of just two hours duration.

The two-hour duration is of interest because in recent years much attention has focused on the need for new long duration energy storage technologies that can last for a full day, on into weeks and even months. However, these new systems have yet to emerge in mainstream energy storage markets, while the PNNL hydropower report indicates that existing, short-duration battery technology can deliver meaningful results here and now.

Hydropower Needs To Wake Up, It’s The 21st Century

To make things even more interesting, hydropower already has long duration energy storage built into its DNA, including standalone systems as well as hydropower dams with pumped hydro storage. features. The problem, as outlined by the PNNL team, is that hydropower systems deploy turbines, a form of 20th-century machinery that can’t keep up with the johnny-on-the-spot demands of the 21st century electricity grid.

That puts hydropower operators in a dilemma. When demand for electricity drops, they could *simply* turn off the turbines. However, start-stop cycles lead to wear and tear on the turbines, resulting in higher costs for maintenance and repair.

An alternative is available. Operators can inject compressed air into the turbines, enabling them to keep spinning without generating electricity. “That way, when the grid does need hydropower, operators don’t have to start the turbines spinning from scratch,” the researchers explain.

The problem is that air injection isn’t always possible. “If the tailwater—or the water on the downstream side of the dam—is too high, air injection into the turbines can cause a dangerously high-pressure environment and lead to equipment damage,” PNNL points out.

There’s a fix for that, too. To prevent damage to the turbines, operators can shut them down. However, that can cause stop-start expenses to pile up. In addition, the turbines can’t be restarted on a dime. They need time to get into gear, and time is money when a turbine can’t produce electricity.

The Energy Storage Fix

Into this picture walks energy storage. The PNNL team modeled their energy storage report on years of data from the 240-megawatt, eight-turbine Bagnell dam on the Osage River in Missouri. The facility, owned by the energy firm Ameren, forms the Lake of the Ozarks.*

With the addition of a 2-hour BESS, the researchers find, the operators don’t need to stop the turbines when demand for electricity drops. The turbines can keep on spinning, with the clean kilowatts shunting to the battery.

In a typical year, the Bagnell dam turbines undergo 201 stop-start cycles at an estimated cost of $500 per cycle. Under the 2-hour BESS scenario, that number is reduced to five cycles. “This equates to approximately $100,000 of savings annually,” PNNL notes.

In addition, operators can dispatch electricity from a BESS much faster than the time it takes to restart a turbine. The PNNL model shows that the addition of a BESS can add about $6 million in revenue to a hydropower facility each year.

To gild the green lily, the researchers also note that the “choppy environment” created by stop/start cycles creates hazardous travel conditions for fish. Reducing the number of cycles is a win for the fish population. “With the turbines constantly spinning, smoother water allows for easier fish passage,” the researchers observe.

Next Steps For Energy Storage & Hydropower

The PNNL team plans to expand their modeling with two new projects in Washington State. One enlists the Grant Public Utility District, which operates multiple hydropower dams on the Columbia River. The other project will be hosted by Energy Northwest, which operates a small facility connecting Packwood Lake with the Cowlitz River.

As if on cue, the footprint of the US energy storage industry got a huge shot of adrenaline on January 14, when the US energy storage startup NeoVolta announced the formation of the new NeoVolta Power joint venture with plans to establish a new utility-scale BESS manufacturing facility in Pendergrass, Georgia, with an initial capacity of 2 gigawatt-hours.

If all goes according to plan, the factory will be up and running by the middle of this year, with the aim of hitting 8 gigawatt hours at full capacity. Producing batteries for industry and commercial operations is also part of the plan.

The new venture pairs a 60% interest from NeoVolta with a 20% slice owned by the leading BESS firm PotisEdge, a recently acquired branch of the A-list renewable energy company LONGi Green Energy. The remaining 20% is spoken for by individual investors.

“Together, the three companies combine NeoVolta’s U.S. market leadership and product strategy, PotisEdge’s advanced BESS manufacturing systems, and LONGi’s global scale, execution discipline, and energy-transition vision, creating a domestic manufacturing platform designed for scale, quality, and long-term growth,” the newly formed startup explains.

Okay, So What About The Epstein Files?

Since no report on the US government  is complete without a mention of the Epstein files, let’s note for the record that the flop sweat of desperation is layering up thicker and faster than the glued-on gold-painted ornaments embellishing the wall so of the White House (or what remains of it) as President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress try anything, everything, to deflect attention from whatever evidence of a connection to sex trafficking might be revealed within the voluminous pages of documents on the activities of the late Jeffrey Epstein that were supposed to be released, by Act of Congress, on December 19.

If you have any thoughts about that, drop a note in the comment thread. Better yet, find your representatives in Congress and let them know what you think.

*Note: CleanTechnica received PNNL’s e-mail newsletter describing the hydropower report, but the PNNL website is not accessible as of this writing. If you can find a link, let us know!

Photo: Hydropower operators can save money on turbine repairs and maintenance, and add revenue by adding battery-type energy storage systems (cropped, courtesy of PNNL via email to CleanTechnica).