World’s Biggest Pumped Storage Project Hits Full Capacity in China

The world’s biggest pumped storage plant, the Fengning Power Station, went into full service at the end of the year, supporting 10 gigawatts of solar- and wind-powered generation in China’s Hebei Province, near Beijing and Tianjin.

The 3.6-GW, ¥19.24-billion (US$2.6-billion) storage facility started commercial operations in mid-August, Hydro Review reported at the time, and became fully operational December 31, PV Magazine writes.

The plant, which had been under construction since May 2013, was originally meant to support the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the International Hydropower Association (IHA) states. It features 12 reversible pump-turbine units, “is designed to generate 6.61 terawatt hours (TWh) annually while consuming 8.71 TWh of electricity for pumping, and it connects to the North China power grid via four 500 kV transmission lines,” PV Mag says.

Despite the construction delays, the IHA declared the project “a new global benchmark in the global hydropower sector,” adding that “pumped hydropower plants like Fengning are essential for stabilizing energy grids, especially with increasing renewable energy use.” The association cited pumped storage as “the largest form of renewable energy storage,” with 200 GW of installed capacity accounting for more than 90% of the world’s long-duration storage.

In August 2023, the U.S. Energy Information Administration credited pumped storage with increasing the flexibility of China’s power grid. That made it “particularly important in China, which has a large and growing share of wind and solar power in its generation mix,” the EIA said at the time. The agency added that pumped storage has advantages compared to other forms of storage, including low operational and maintenance costs and long operating lifespans.

Cover photo: State Grid Corporation of China