The Energy Department has invested $9.8 million toward 12 projects in an effort to help speed up the deployments of pumped-storage hydropower and non-powered dams through new technologies.
The projects are intended to study the use of concepts for closed-loop pumped-storage hydropower systems to support the future of hydropower in the U.S., DOE said Tuesday.
DOE also unveiled a new report that examines the future of hydropower through 2050 and concludes that hydropower in the United States could grow from 101 gigawatts to 150 GW of combined electricity generation and storage capacity by 2050.
“Hydropower has provided clean, affordable, and reliable electricity in the United States for more than a century, and pumped-storage complements today’s rapidly growing variable technologies such as wind and solar,†Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said.
The report contains a roadmap that recommends sustained technology development and collaboration among industry experts, federal agencies and academia to achieve the economic and social benefits of hydropower.
