Professor Andrew Blakers

Research highlights

One of the sites in our global pumped hydro energy storage atlas was selected for the Pioneer-Burdekin 5 GW, 120 GWh pumped hydro energy storage system.

See page 18 in: "Queensland SuperGrid Infrastructure Blueprint."

The Blueprint states (p18) "The Queensland Government analysis used data from a range of sources including the 1,770 sites in the Australian National University (ANU) and Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) Project – An Atlas of Pumped Hydro Energy Storage. The Queensland Government undertook a risk-based, multi-criteria assessment to identify the best PHES sites at the lowest cost, and least impact ..."

Image: Site for the Pioneer-Burdekin 5 GW, 120 GWh pumped hydro energy storage system

International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) mounts global pumped hydro atlas on their website: Global Atlas (irena.org)

Outreach

• Plenary talk at Roorkee Water Conclave 2022

Media

• The forgotten power of water, Foresight, 7 October.
• 15 GW of pumped hydro announced in Australia, Energy Central, 30 September. 
• Brian Burke, Kerry Stokes, Kevin Reynolds among major players in race to unlock Western Australia's green power future, ABC News, 4 September. 
• World's first 'sand battery' can store heat at 500C for months at a time. Could it work in Australia?, ABC News, 12 July. 
• Mass storage is a solved problem, Energy Central, 19 May. 
• Big battery plans for Pilbara ignore massive pumped-hydro potential, Renew Economy, 14 February.
• Batteries get hyped, but pumped hydro provides the vast majority of long-term energy storage essential for renewable power – here’s how it works, The Conversation, 20 January.