More than 380 meters underground, a generator set with a maximum diameter of over 12 meters rotates at a high speed of 375 revolutions per minute. At the construction site of the second phase of the Meizhou pumped storage power station in Guangdong, technicians are busy debugging the first unit and striving towards the production target. The total storage capacity of the upper and lower reservoirs of the power station is 92.32 million cubic meters, exceeding the storage capacity of six West Lakes. ”Zhu Jinhua, General Manager of the Meishu Phase II Project Department of Nanwang Energy Storage Company, introduced that the Phase II project will add 4 units on the basis of the first phase, and is expected to be fully put into operation before the end of the year. At that time, the installed capacity of pumped storage in operation in Guangdong will exceed 10 million kilowatts. During periods of low electricity load, surplus electricity is used to pump water from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir for storage; During peak electricity load periods, the release of water from reservoirs for power generation - pumped storage energy, like a large "hydro power bank", is an important infrastructure supporting the development of new energy. The "China Renewable Energy Development Report 2024" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") recently released by the China Hydropower and Water Resources Planning and Design Institute shows that as of the end of 2024, the total installed capacity of pumped storage in China has reached 58.69 million kilowatts, accounting for over 30% of the world's total, ranking first in the world for nine consecutive years. Flexible and efficient scheduling and operation. The operation modes of "two pumps, two generators" and "multiple pumps, multiple generators" are more common. In 2024, there will be about 57000 pumping starts, a year-on-year increase of 30%, about 61000 power generation starts, a year-on-year increase of 36%, and a year-on-year increase of 14.5% in power generation. The development layout is more optimized. The pattern of scale development of pumped storage power stations from east to west is becoming increasingly clear. In the ongoing projects, the East and Central China regions remain the main force, while the Northwest and other new energy rich areas are catching up. The technological level has significantly improved. In May, Unit 1 of Zhejiang Tiantai Pumped Storage Power Station completed the rotor lifting operation, with a single unit capacity of 425 megawatts, which is the largest in China and the highest rated head of 724 meters in the world. In June, the first water diversion inclined shaft of Hunan Pingjiang Pumped Storage Power Station was fully connected, overcoming the world-class problem of high head inclined shaft construction. In recent years, China has comprehensively upgraded the design, construction, and equipment manufacturing of pumped storage power stations, taking new steps towards high head, large capacity, and high-speed unit testing and construction, and the overall development trend of the industry has improved. ”Zhao Zenghai, Vice President of the Water Resources Planning and Design Institute, believes that with the acceleration of energy green transformation, pumped storage energy, as a mature and economically viable green and flexible power source, will be more fully valued in the power system. According to the report, taking into account various factors such as terrain, geology, water source conditions, and preliminary economy, more than 1500 pumped storage resource stations have been selected through national census and distributed in the vast majority of provinces. The total installed capacity is about 1.6 billion kilowatts, which is equivalent to more than 70 Three Gorges power stations. While pumped storage has entered a period of development opportunities, it also faces challenges such as a reduction in high-quality station resources and an incomplete electricity pricing mechanism. Yang Xiongping, Vice President of the Southern Power Grid Energy Development Research Institute, suggested exploring benchmark capacity pricing mechanisms based on resource zoning and cross provincial and cross regional sharing and allocation mechanisms; Establish a sound mechanism for pumped storage power stations to gradually participate in spot trading, and enrich and improve the trading rules for auxiliary service varieties such as frequency modulation, phase modulation, and ramp up in the market. In order to promote the high-quality development of pumped storage industry, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued the "Interim Measures for the Development and Construction Management of Pumped Storage Power Stations" this year, proposing the overall principle of "ecological priority, demand orientation, optimized layout, and orderly construction", requiring provincial energy regulatory departments to take the lead in conducting site resource surveys and establishing site resource libraries, laying a solid foundation for selecting sites with good construction conditions and low project costs. According to the "Medium - and Long Term Development Plan for Pumped Storage (2021-2035)", by 2030, the total scale of pumped storage production in China will be around 120 million kilowatts. By 2035, a modern pumped storage industry with advanced technology, high-quality management, and strong international competitiveness will be formed. (New Society)