Have you ever thought about how else to store the electric energy produced by thousands of offshore wind energy parks globally? The best energy storages today are pumped-hydro storage systems; hence the question whether this technology can be adopted to lower heads, and the ALPHEUS EU-project is currently finding out. Better energy storage technology is […]
What is the Environmental Impact of the ALPHEUS Project?
Hydropower applications pose a series of environmental impacts on ecologically sensitive areas, and for this reason require careful site planning. The study of environmental aspects (siting and land use) is paramount in ALPHEUS and ALPHEUS-like projects. The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) imposes the monitoring and the assessment of European marine waters quality against 11 […]
Why Does the Electricity Grid Need ALPHEUS?
The pan-European power grid is experiencing a rapid upheaval in the nature of its energy supply side. An ever-increasing penetration of Variable renewable energy (VRE), such as wind and solar energy, pose new challenges regarding the grid stability and security of supply. Without further measures, the fluctuating and non-dispatchable nature of these VRE would turn […]
Introduction to the ALPHEUS Project
European goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions require the increase of renewable energies used in the electric grid. Nowadays the most developed renewable energy technologies are wind, solar and hydraulic power stations. Wind and solar energy capacity has been rapidly increasing in the last years. However, the natural unpredictability of these energy sources calls for […]
New Publication: Drivetrain Architectures for a Mechanically Decoupled Contra-Rotating Reversible Pump-Turbine
With the rise of renewable energy production in the pan-European grid, the need for flexible energy storage is experiencing a rapid increase. Pumped hydropower storage has proven viability due to its long lifespan and cost-effectiveness. The ALPHEUS project will implement pumped hydropower storage for flat topographies to augment grid stability in adjacent regions. To ensure […]
The Design of the Counter Rotating RPT has been created
The current mechanical design of the counter rotating RPT was created using the CAD software PTC Creo Parametric. This design will be tested in the experiment and later validated in the CFD. With the help of two bellows couplings, a possible misalignment between the motor shaft and the drive shaft can be compensated. The torque […]
Second Update on ALPHEUS Work Package 3
In WP3, the Power Take-Off (PTO) and machine-side control are studied and designed. One part of this work package deals with rotor fatigue. One of the overarching aims of the ALPHEUS project is to show the viability of using low head pumped hydro to improve the stability of the grid. This is done by regulating […]
RDP Research Prototype Running in a Pump Mode
The prototype was built at Chalmers University of Technology by Petter Miltén under the supervision of Prof. Valery Chernoray. Video courtesy to Petter Miltén. Positive displacement reversible pump-turbine research model running in a pump mode. This model is being used to validate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) being undertaken by Pal-Tore Storli and Luiz Henrique Accorsi Gans at the […]
New Publication: Numerical Analysis of an Initial Design of a Counter-Rotating Pump-Turbine
The paper presented at the IAHR conferences ‘Numerical Analysis of an Initial Design of a Counter-Rotating Pump-Turbine’ has been published by IOPscience. The paper has been written by Jonathan Fahlbeck, Håkan Nilsson, Saeed Salehi, Mehrdad Zangeneh and Melvin Joseph. What’s Inside? Renewable sources of energy are on the rise and will continue to increase the coming decades. A common problem […]
New Publication: Flow Characteristics of Preliminary Shutdown and Startup Sequences for a Model Counter-Rotating Pump-Turbine
Jonathan Fahlbeck*, Håkan Nilsson and Saeed Salehi released a new publication on the flow characteristics of preliminary shutdown and startup sequences for a model counter-rotating pump-turbine. Pumped Hydropower Storage (PHS) is the maturest and most economically viable technology for storing energy and regulating the electrical grid on a large scale. Due to the growing amount of […]