Mike McWilliams
Dene Cottage, Smallhythe Road,
Tenterden, Kent TN30 7NB, UK
mob: +44 (0) 7941 302972
email: mike@mcw-e.com
Underground Pumped Storage Hydro
In 2017 Mike McWilliams developed the concept of Location Agnostic Pumped Storage (LAPS): electricity storage that can be built on flat land anywhere.
The LAPS concept is described in the International Forum on Pumped Storage Hydropower publication: “Innovative Pumped Storage Hydropower Configurations and Uses” of 2021.
The concept was inspired by the growing need for electricity storage to support the energy transition, which needs grid-scale, modular solutions that can be located virtually anywhere without significant environmental impacts.
The ability to construct blind shafts mechanically to depths of 1600 metres using the shaft-boring roadheader developed by Herrenknecht means that access can be gained quickly and safely to such depths.
Concurrently Zero Terrain were developing the underground Paldiski PSH in Estonia with a similar concept, albeit at a shallower depth of 750 m. This project is now fully permitted and ready to start construction.
Mike has joined the Global Advisory Board of Zero Terrain and undertaken a study of the global need for long-duration energy storage and underground pumped storage:
Main Report (download pdf)
Executive Summary (download pdf)