Pumping, storing and releasing energy
IN MOROCCO, VINCI Construction is working in a consortium to build a pumped storage hydroelectric plant in Abdelmoumen, located 70 km from Agadir. The plant will provide backup for intermittent renewable energy sources by storing energy in hydraulic form when demand is low and then regenerating the electricity as demand increases, using reversible pump turbines. Water pumped to an upper reservoir will be held there, before its release into a 3 km waterway and a reservoir located 600 metres below. The reversible hydroelectric plant, installed between the two reservoirs along the waterway, will be equipped with two 350 MW pump-turbine units that can switch between pumping and turbine mode up to 20 times a day, as needed, to store any surplus or feed energy back to the Moroccan power grid.
118 countriesmade a commitment at COP28 in Dubai, in December 2023, to triple their renewable energy capacity by 2030.