Low-head pumped hydro storage technology has been identified as a promising contributor to grid-scale energy storage and the provision of ancillary services. Low-head systems have differing characteristics compared to conventional high-head systems, including larger relative head ranges and increased inertias of both, the water column and the pump–turbines. These differences require new designs as well as a detailed evaluation of their steady-state performance and transient behaviour. For this purpose, an experimental 50kW setup incorporating a 1:22 scale version of a novel reversible pump–turbine, with two contra-rotating runners and independent drivetrains, is designed and constructed. Steady-state performance tests are conducted in turbine and pump modes for several speed ratios between runners. Using head and torque coefficients, the results are compared to a numerical pump–turbine model based on a range of computational fluid dynamics simulations. Additionally, the transient response for a change of operating points is tested and used to benchmark a 1-D numerical model covering dynamic effects including coupling between the conduit and drivetrains. The developed numerical model is then used to simulate the transient behaviour during a shutdown sequence in turbine mode. During the steady-state tests a maximum efficiency of 89% was measured in turbine mode and 92% in pump mode. The test results show that the steady-state RPT characterisation accurately predicts the RPT performance, particularly in turbine mode, with correlation coefficient values between 0.9–0.97. The comparison of the pump mode results shows a minor offset and difference in the correlation between experimental and numerical results. Similarly, the comparison of the transient test case shows a good agreement between the experimental and the simulated dynamic response of the flow rate and rotational speeds. The results have shown the capability of the numerical modelling approach to provide accurate results for steady-state and dynamic performance evaluations. Finally, the simulation of the shutdown sequence indicates that there is no risk of dangerous pressure transients during the desired deceleration of the runners and concurrent closure of the valve.

Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHS) provides over 90% of the global long-duration energy storage capacity, yet many regions lack the steep terrain required for conventional high-head PHS. Low-head pumped hydro energy storage (LH PHS) systems address this gap in flat topographic regions but requires efficient pump-turbine technology for operation at variable low heads. This study investigates the use of a variable-speed contra-rotating pump-turbine (CR RPT) for LH PHS applications, presenting experimental results from a model-scale test rig stablished at Technische Universität Braunschweig. This test rig uses two open water surface tanks to provide head, unlike conventional hydraulic test rigs that use pumps. The CR RPT achieved hydraulic efficiencies over 80% for a wide range of operating conditions, peaking at 86.1% and 88.4% for pump and turbine modes, respectively. Additionally, dimensionless analysis revealed that the CR-RPT occupies a unique place in the market and that it achieves the largest power density among comparable hydraulic machines, facilitating greater power output and thus streamlining mechanical and civil engineering requirements for LH PHS.

Large-scale energy storage solutions are crucial to ensure grid stability and reliability in the ongoing energy transition towards a low-carbon, renewable energy based electricity supply. This article presents the evaluation of a novel low-head pumped hydro storage system designed for coastal environments and shallow seas. The proposed system addresses some of the challenges of low-head pumped hydro storage including the need for larger flow rates and reservoirs as well as the requirement of machinery with high efficiencies across a wide operating range to accommodate larger changes in gross head during storage cycles. It includes several units of contra-rotating reversible pump-turbines connected to axial-flux motor generators within a ring dike, as well as dedicated machine- and grid-side control. The technology allows for independent control of each runner, making it possible to adapt to the specific operating conditions of low-head systems. In this work, a numerical approach is used to simulate the system's performance and dynamic behaviour under various operational conditions, including energy generation, storage, and grid support of a 1 GW system with 4 GWh of storage capacity. The potential system performance for energy balancing cycles is evaluated, and a sensitivity analysis is conducted to assess the influence of scaling the motor-generators on performance and footprint of the plant. Additionally, the capability and limitations of the system to respond to grid demand fluctuations and provide frequency regulation services are assessed. The results demonstrate that the low-head pumped hydro storage system is a viable large-scale energy storage solution, capable of round-trip efficiencies above 70% across a wide operating range. By increasing the maximum power of the electric machines, the maximum head range of the whole system is increased which correlates with a threefold increase in energy density per unit area. The dynamic simulations further show that the system can rapidly change its power output allowing it to provide frequency regulation services. Allocating 20% of its nominal power as a reserve, the new power setpoints can be reached within a maximum of 5 s independent of its initial state of charge.

Recently, contra-rotating reversible pump-turbines (CR RPTs) have been proposed to increase the efficiency of low-head pumped hydropower storage applications, which are promising to provide energy storage for non-mountainous regions. To study the control architectures for these systems, a dual-rotor hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) emulator test-setup is developed. The HIL test-setup employs two induction machines controlled by separate regenerative variable frequency drives to emulate the torques on the two runners. A quasi-steady-state RPT model is developed based on 380 steady-state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and compared to three transient CFD simulations to analyse the dynamics. Furthermore, the runner torques are adapted to account for the lower friction and higher inertia of the HIL test-setup compared to the prototype CR RPT, ensuring accurate emulation. Finally, it is shown how precise calibration of the drive torque response averts torque errors related to the machine model estimator used in direct torque control. The developed emulator setup offers a cost-effective and controlled environment to optimise and validate control architectures for the novel CR RPT, providing a higher fidelity than theoretical simulation by including the physical effects of the drivetrain, electrical machines and converters that are not entirely captured in mathematical models.

In an effort to make pumped hydropower storage (PHS) technology feasible for regions with a flat topography, recent research shows promising results using a contra-rotating reversible pump-turbine at low-head. In this study, the impact of dual variable speed and inlet valve control is analyzed to evaluate the effect of these three degrees of freedom (DOFs) on the system efficiency and operating range. To this end, analytical models are described to assess pump-turbine performance, conduit losses and electromechanical losses. Methodologically, optimal efficiency maps are computed for every combination of the three DOFs to evaluate individual and combined effects on the overall efficiency. Furthermore, three energy storage cycles are analyzed to further study the performance in realistic use-cases. Key conclusions include an increase in round-trip efficiency by combining variable speed ratio and inlet valve control of 5.6% and 2.0% compared with only variable speed ratio control and variable inlet valve control, respectively. Furthermore, it is shown that using only 1 DOF significantly limits the operating range, with the addition of a variable inlet valve granting a higher impact than a variable speed ratio. Combining inlet valve and speed ratio control leads not only to the highest efficiency, but also the largest operating range, with a maximum round-trip efficiency of 67.5% and an energy storage capacity of 58.6 Wh/m ². The results confirm that exploiting both dual variable speed operation and inlet valve control yields the maximum efficiency and operating range, and is thus the preferred topology for contra-rotating reversible pump-turbines in low-head operation.