Abandoned mines punted as potential pumped-storage scheme sites

Several abandoned mine sites in South Africa and Australia could be sustainably used, particularly in terms of serving as pumped hydro-energy storage sites, says renewable-energy generation and storage provider Genex Power executive director Simon Kidston. Although underground and opencast mine sites could be used for pumped storage hydro schemes, Kidston stresses that the focus should be on sites that are close to electricity transmission and that have strong pitholes with stable rock and ground conditions.