Spain to support pumped-storage hydropower development, with tens of millions of euros available

As installed solar and wind power capacity in the grid grows, so does the need for flexibility and energy storage. While battery storage has been attracting increasing attention in recent years, another storage technology has played an indispensable role in the power system for decades: pumped-storage hydropower plants. Spain is now supporting their further development and modernisation through a new support programme, which will offer up to 90 million euros, or more than 2 billion crowns.

The growing share of intermittent renewable energy sources in the power systems of many countries is making them more challenging to stabilise. Alongside flexible generation, energy storage plays a key role, particularly battery storage and pumped-storage hydropower plants. While battery storage is experiencing a major boom, the construction of new pumped-storage plants is constrained by the limited number of suitable sites. Nevertheless, this part of the energy sector is also set to grow.

Spain is one example: earlier this year, it announced a new programme to support pumped-storage hydropower plants. According to Renewables Now, the programme is expected to deliver around 1 GW of new installed capacity, along with 7 GWh of storage capacity.

The new programme, funded through the EU’s NextGenerationEU plan, is intended to support the development of new pumped-storage plants, the modernisation of existing facilities, the conversion of hydropower plants to pumped storage, and projects to expand storage capacity using existing reservoirs.

Project developers will have one month to submit bids. The projects will then be selected by a government agency under Spain’s Ministry for the Ecological Transition. They will be assessed on several factors, including economic viability and their contribution to integrating renewable energy sources and stabilising the country’s power system. Socioeconomic factors will also be considered, such as the number of jobs created and the impact on supply chains.