The key role of PSPs in the future of sunny countries

Abstract

The revenue per capita of various countries is quite proportional to their use of energy which in the future will be essentially through electricity from renewable sources. The rich countries of OECD are far from equator and use 10 000 TWh/year for 1.3 billion people, 8 000 kWh per capita. Their revenue per capita is five-fold the revenue of 5 billion people of sunny countries closer to equator which use 8 000 Twh, i.e., 1 600 kWh per capita. The economic progress of sunny countries is based upon a use close to 6 000 or 8 000 kWh for 7 or 8 billion mid-century, i.e., 50 000 TWh/year. All sources beyond solar will be limited in most sunny countries and the future seems based upon photovoltaic energy (PV) available 8 to 10 hours per day at low direct cost along year, possibly for 40 000 TWh. A key problem will be the storage from day to night of up to 15 000 TWh/year. The best solution may be pump storage plants (PSPs) storing some 10 hours/day for 10 000 TWh/year i.e., 30 TWh/day by a capacity of 3 000 or 4 000 GW. Beyond traditional solutions in mountains there are many opportunities of cost-effective PSPs based upon twin dams along large rivers or upon PSPs at sea along cliffs. Various examples are presented.