A new pumped-storage plant will be built on the Orlík-Kamýk hydro scheme in Czechia

A new pumped-storage plant will be built on the hydro scheme at Orlík-Kamýk. The project, costing several billion crowns, will use surplus energy to pump water from Kamýk to the higher-lying Orlík reservoir. During peak demand, the water would then be released through turbines back into Kamýk. A tender for the supplier has already been launched and is expected to be concluded this year; the plant should begin operating by 2030, ČEZ spokesperson Martin Schreier told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) today. The project has already been reported on by Hospodářské noviny and Právo.

The pumped-storage plant would work in a similar way to the Dlouhé stráně reservoirs in the Jeseníky Mountains. „Two of the four turbine-generator units at Orlík would be converted to reversible turbines. When there is surplus energy on the grid, or when electricity prices on the exchange are negative, they could use part of Kamýk’s water capacity to store water at Orlík for later use,“ the spokesperson said. He added that two reversible Francis turbines would allow water to flow in the opposite direction, in pumping mode from Kamýk to Orlík.