The demonstrator scheme at Cornwood has a peak power production of 500kW and could power 400 homes for one year, if run continually.
“This project takes 100-year-old technology – pumped hydro – and makes it work for the modern day,” said Lizzi Gold, business development manager at RheEnergise.
She said the idea was scalable and could be built on hills “as low as 100 metres”.
“As we move towards a renewable energy system, we need much more energy storage”.
Gold added that the idea behind the scheme was to provide “clean power when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining”.
