In Vattenfall’s central control room, human operators aided by algorithms monitor the electricity grid, and the market, to judge whether their pumped hydro plants ought to be generating or pumping. Kühne adds that the frequency of alternating between these modes has gone up over time because of renewables’ variability.
If you can get the response right, however, you can make a lot of money. On its website, Vattenfall data-offer-url=”https://group.vattenfall.com/press-and-media/newsroom/2024/pumped-hydro-storage-the-swiss-army-knife-of-the-energy-industry” class=”external-link” data-event-click=”{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://group.vattenfall.com/press-and-media/newsroom/2024/pumped-hydro-storage-the-swiss-army-knife-of-the-energy-industry"}” href=”https://group.vattenfall.com/press-and-media/newsroom/2024/pumped-hydro-storage-the-swiss-army-knife-of-the-energy-industry” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>describes pumped hydro as “highly profitable.” A paper published last month…
