Hydropower Pumped Storage

The need for large-scale energy storage is growing in response to the continued development of large-scale intermittent renewable energy sources (e.g., wind and solar power). Batteries have shown some promise for energy storage on a small scale, however, to date the ONLY large-scale commercially proven technology for energy storage is pumped storage hydropower.

Pumped storage involves many complex variables including:

Pricing strategies to make development economical
Multi-year regulatory process
Environmental impacts
Billion-dollar capital construction costs
Transmission interconnection

As a developer, you understand risk and reward and seek trusted advisors to help minimize risks while shortening the development timeline. That is the value Kleinschmidt provides to your development team.

We began working on hydropower over 50 years ago and today hydropower projects still account for more than 85 percent of our workload. Most of our more than 200 professional staff located in 12 offices throughout North America are focused on hydropower consulting services. This deep expertise gives our clients peace of mind because they know that we understand their challenges and have significant resources to help strategize on the most practical solution.

We are an industry leader in managing the FERC regulatory processes and studies at pumped storage facilities

We have managed or had significant involvement in the relicensing of eight pumped storage projects and currently managing two other pumped storage relicensings, more than any other firm.

This experience has allowed us to develop a robust understanding of the unique operations of pumped storage, as well as a strong appreciation of the relatively low impacts associated with these projects.

Kleinschmidt has decades of experience with FERC regulated hydropower facilities and can provide the following services for PSH developments and upgrades. How can we help you?