The potential role of seasonal pumped hydropower storage in decarbonizing the power sector in Saudi Arabia

Julian David Hunt, Naser Odeh, Mohamed Hejazi, Puneet Kamboj, Sergey Osipov and Yoshihide Wada

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2025, vol. 211, issue C

Abstract: In line with the broader ambitions of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia aims to achieve greenhouse gas net zero emissions by 2060. At the heart of this ambition is decarbonizing the power generation sector with a commitment to 50 % of power generation capacity from renewables by 2030. Despite the affordability of renewable power generation options, long-term renewable energy storage solutions are still expensive. This paper investigates the role that seasonal pumped hydro storage (SPHS) can play in renewable energy storage and, hence, decarbonizing power generation in Saudi Arabia. SPHS is a practical approach for storing energy seasonaly in Saudi Arabia because the country has a large demand for seawater desalination, and by storing desalinated water, we indirectly store the energy required to desalinate the seawater, which is substatial. Ten proposed SPHS locations have been analyzed across the Kingdom. The study identified two attractive SPHS locations requiring an investment of around 16.5 billion USD to store 6.2 km3/yr for 15 to 22 USD/MWh of electricity and with a total seasonal compensation (SC, defined as the energy saving in the summer as a result of storing desalinated water in the winter) of around 69 TWh/y. Further work is needed to evaluate the impact of the share of renewable capacity on the feasibility of SPHS. This paper shows that SPHS can potentially contribute to the decarbonization of the power sector in Saudi Arabia and the balancing of the electricity grid as part of a full suite of energy storage options.

Keywords: Seasonal energy storage; Pumped hydropower storage; Variable renewable energy; Water management; Water storage; Decarbonization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2025.115361

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