The U.S. Energy Department selected two pumped-storage hydropower projects to conduct techno-economic studies in a bid to examine their long-term value, according to a Dec. 3 news release.

• The department said that the continued growth of variable renewable generation is having an impact on the value these projects provide to the grid.
• Pumped hydro projects were originally intended to balance the system between periods of high demand during day and low demand at night. Now, these plants provide ramping services by changing their operational modes multiple times per day rather than merely generating in the day and pumping at night.
• The studies, which include cost-benefit, power market, financial, and valuation analyses, will be performed by a team of experts from the department’s national laboratories.
• The analyses aim to equip developers with the ability to estimate the value of a project and compare revenue streams under existing market structures relative to the economic value of to the grid.
• The selected proposals are GridAmerica Holdings Inc.’s Goldendale project on the border of Oregon and Washington and Absaroka Energy’s Banner Mountain project in Wyoming. GridAmerica Holdings is a subsidiary of National Grid plc.