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At the end of last year, ILF Consulting Engineers was commissioned by EnergyAustralia as provider for independent verifier services for the pumped hydro project using seawater at Cultana in South Australia.

The facility would be capable of producing 225 megawatts (MW) of electricity with around eight hours of storage. That’s the equivalent of installing 126,000 home battery storage systems, but at a third of the cost. Pumped hydro works by using two bodies or reservoirs of water, one at a high elevation, at the top of a hill, and another at a lower elevation, at the bottom. The Cultana project will also include two penstocks, a powerhouse containing two reversible Francis turbines, a tailrace structure and a seawater intake/outfall structure as well as a connection to an existing 275 kV transmission line and balance of plant systems. The water to fill the reservoirs will be sourced from the Spencer Gulf. This water will pass through a pre-treatment filter and then be desalinated via a reverse osmosis process.

It’s potentially a great, cost-effective way of integrating renewable power and ensuring energy is reliable and affordable.