STEPinBel

STEPinBEL focuses on the analysis of the opportunities for Pumped Storage Hydroelectricity (PSH) development in Belgium. More precisely, STEPinBEL will assess the potential for new PSH in Belgium to increase the flexibility and resilience of the electricity network.

Based on an existing initial mapping of future PSH, STEPinBEL will consider the 3 main axes forming the backbone of large infrastructure project development - (i) technical, (ii) economic and legal, and (iii) social and environmental aspects – in order to improve and extended the site pre-selection throughout Belgium.

Strong accent is also put on the identification and quantification of services that new PSH could bring to the electricity grid. These topics are analysed and applied in a three steps procedure, starting from broad scale with an inventory of potential on the Belgian territory, analysis of technical possibilities and their adaptation to a product range (power range) that is not very mature on the market, followed by feasibility studies at the level of some specific sites. Other electricity storage technologies are not part of the project and would only be considered as a complement in the context of PSH optimisation, if appropriate. At the end of the STEPinBEL, it is expected that the decision for investment to build several sites accounting for 200 to 350 MW can be made.

It lays the foundations for a future in which citizen cooperatives will make a concrete contribution to balancing the grid through energy storage by 2028.