Inline Pumped Storage Hydropower towards Smart and Flexible Energy Recovery in Water Networks

Energy and climate change are thoroughly linked since fossil energy generation highly affects the environment, and climate change influences the renewable energy generation capacity. Hence, this study gives a new contribution to the energy generation in water infrastructures by means of an inline pumped-storage hydro (IPSH) solution. The selection of the equipment is the first step towards good results. The energy generation through decentralized micro-hydropower facilities can offer a good solution since they are independent of the hydrologic cycle associated with climate change. The current study presents the methodology and analyses to use water level difference between water tanks or reservoirs in a base pumping system (BPS) to transform it into the concept of a pump-storage hydropower solution. The investigation was developed based on an experimental facility and numerical simulations using WaterGEMS in the optimization of the system operation and for the selection of the characteristic curves, both for the pump and turbine modes. The model simulation of the integrated system was calibrated, and the conceptual IPSH that can be installed was then investigated. The achieved energy for different technical scale systems was estimated using proper dimensional analysis applied to different scaled hydraulic circuits, as well as for hydropower response.