The Energy Commissioner of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group of the German Federal Parliament has spoken out in favor of pumped storage power plants being used as important, systems-relevant storage units also in the future.

During a visit at Voith Hydro, the CDU member of the Bundestag for the constituency Zollernalb-Sigmaringen emphasized how important it is to make good use of pumped storage plants for the success of the energy transition.

The Board of Voith Hydro welcomed Thomas Bareiß today at the “Brunnenmühle“  research and development center and discussed with him the opportunities and risks of the German energy transition. “The energy transition can be a success, if we use the right storage technologies. Pumped storage systems are powerful and highly efficient - they are instantly available at an industrial scale,” says Dr. Roland Münch, CEO and President of the Management Board of Voith Hydro. At the same time he also highlighted the competitiveness of pumped storage systems on the free market.

“Subsidies in connection with the energy transition nevertheless destroy the economic basis of pumped storage power plants. Renewable energies get preferred access to the national grid and receive high compensation payments for this. This combination seriously distorts the market. For this reason, the framework conditions for competitive storage technologies are in urgent need of improvement,” explains Dr. Roland Münch.

The basis of the talk was a study of Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen commissioned by Voith. The study ascertains that pumped storage power plants are able to store excess electricity from renewable energies at short notice and with extreme flexibility and then feed it back into the grid. 

In the study, the scientists emphasize that power stores are indispensable within the context of the energy transition. The results of the study are also shared by Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena). At the same time, dena recommends to use more pumped storage plants, in order to be able to meet the targets of the energy transition in Germany. 

“The integration of renewable energies is a challenge of the energy transition. Germany must succeed in efficiently utilizing excess power produced at noon in the evening at acceptable economic costs,” says Thomas Bareiß. “A future energy market design therefore has to define a distinct role for such storage systems to ensure that their contribution to securing energy supplies is also adding value. Pumped storage power plants can take on a substantial proportion of future storage capacities.”

Read more about the study:

http://www.wasserkraft.info/de/warum-pumpspeicher.html

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