Wind-driven pumped storage system design

Wind power is unsteady due to the stochastic nature of wind. Pumped storage is a reliable technology for hydropower storage and generation. This paper aims to regulate wind power with a pumped storage facility by designing a mathematical model of a stand-alone wind-driven pumped storage. The available wind continuously pumps water to a high-elevation upper reservoir, while electricity is generated per demand. A case study was developed in eastern Sudan, and results show that wind energy can be regulated using pumped storage. The scheme had a 71% roundtrip efficiency, with a monthly energy yield of 23 GWh sufficient to support the whole population of the Red Sea State in Sudan. This result indicates the good potential of a wind-driven pumped storage system to deliver continuous electricity using intermittent wind. Such a scheme will benefit the developing countries in Africa, where the requirements of this system are easily found.