Suppose there are 3 planned Pumped Storage Hydro (PSH) schemes of different energy storage capacities – for example, SSE Coire Glas @ 30GWh, ILI Balliemeanoch 45GWh and Glasa Morie Glass 170GWh – and we want to scale the installed power regeneration turbines so that they can all operate with an equal duration of regeneration in a co-ordinated manner to offer the National Grid, OFGEM, BEIS or whatever other customer the opportunity to place an order for a desired total power capacity for a desired duration of regeneration.
If the customer requirements for total energy storage capacity (equal to total power multiplied by duration) exceed the sum of the energy storage capacities of the 3 planned PSH schemes – in this example, 245GWh – then we may need to specify the requirements of a 4th PSH scheme’s energy storage and power regeneration capacity in order to plan to satisfy the customer’s order.
The graph plots a x=power / y=duration curve for each of the 3 specified PSH schemes – Coire Glas 30GWh (green curve), Balliemeanoch 45GWh (black curve) and Glasa Morie Glass 170GWh (red curve).
The graph plots 3 alternative desired total power capacities – 8.17GW, 12.25GW and 20GW (the orange lines) and the x-value on these total power lines represents the required power of a 4th PSH scheme and when x=0 then a 4th PSH scheme is not required.
The equation relating the power of the 4th PSH scheme (P4x) to the total power (TP) of all 3 or 4 PSH schemes with duration y is –
P4x = TP – 30÷y – 45÷y – 170÷y
The graph plots 3 alternative desired durations – 12.25 hours, 20 hours and 30 hours (points with the same y value, reading horizontally, as tabulated below).
| Scaling 3 or 4 Pumped Storage Hydro Schemes for equal duration | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duration (Hours) |
Total Power (GW) |
30GWh Coire Glas Power(GW) | 45GWh Balliemeanoch Power (GW) |
170GWh Glasa Morie Glass Power(GW) |
4th PSH Scheme Power(GW)/ Energy(GWh) |
| 30Hours | 8.17GW | 1GW | 1.5GW (ILI) | 5.67GW | 0 |
| 30Hours | 12.25GW | 1GW | 1.5GW (ILI) | 5.67GW | 4.08GW 122.5GWh |
| 30Hours | 20GW | 1GW | 1.5GW (ILI) | 5.67GW | 11.83GW 355GWh |
| 20Hours | 12.25GW | 1.5GW (SSE) | 2.25GW | 8.5GW | 0 |
| 20Hours | 20GW | 1.5GW (SSE) | 2.25GW | 8.5GW | 7.75GW 155GWh |
| 12.25Hours | 20GW | 2.45GW | 3.67GW | 13.88GW | 0 |
The Coire Glas site is suitable to build a PSH scheme at a much greater scale and so, as an alternative to planning for a 4th PSH scheme, Coire Glas could be supersized as follows.
| Scaling 3 Pumped Storage Hydro Schemes for equal duration | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duration (Hours) |
Total Power (GW) |
45GWh Balliemeanoch Power (GW) |
170GWh Glasa Morie Glass Power(GW) |
Coire Glas Power(GW)/ Energy(GWh) |
| 30Hours | 8.17GW | 1.5GW (ILI) | 5.67GW | 1GW 30GWh |
| 30Hours | 12.25GW | 1.5GW (ILI) | 5.67GW | 5.08GW 152.5GWh |
| 30Hours | 20GW | 1.5GW (ILI) | 5.67GW | 12.83GW 385GWh |
| 20Hours | 12.25GW | 2.25GW | 8.5GW | 1.5GW 30GWh (SSE) |
| 20Hours | 20GW | 2.25GW | 8.5GW | 9.25GW 185GWh |
| 12.25Hours | 20GW | 3.67GW | 13.88GW | 2.45GW 30GWh |
Scottish Scientist 
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