Governments should recognise pumped storage as strategic national security infrastructure and reform electricity markets to support investment, according to a white paper launched at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, today
Developed with input from more than 60 governments and in collaboration with the Global Alliance for Pumped Storage (GAPS), the paper sets out recommendations to strengthen energy security through accelerated deployment of long-duration storage. It was presented at a roundtable bringing together government and international agency representatives.
The report identifies high upfront capital requirements, site-specific preparatory work and lengthy permitting processes as major barriers to development. It also argues that electricity markets fail to adequately reward the full range of services pumped storage provides, limiting the long-term revenue visibility developers need to secure investment.
Its seven recommendations cover assessing storage requirements, recognising pumped storage as strategic infrastructure, establishing clear legal definitions of storage, preparing sites, streamlining permitting, creating an enabling investment environment and remunerating pumped storage services.
For national planning, the paper recommends that governments assess future power system scenarios and explicitly define requirements for both short- and long-duration electricity storage. Where possible, they should set a specific pumped storage capacity target within integrated resource planning.
Clear legal and regulatory definitions could improve investment certainty and prevent double taxation or prohibitive charges applied when electricity is stored and subsequently sold.
The report also calls for early identification of suitable sites, incorporating environmental and social assessments and opportunities to optimise existing hydropower infrastructure. In interconnected systems, it recommends regional coordination through harmonised rules, planning tools and contractual frameworks.
Permitting should follow predictable, time-bound and transparent processes to reduce costs and schedule risks while supporting social acceptance. Alongside this, policy and economic frameworks should provide the long-term revenue stability required by infrastructure projects with extended development periods.
On market design, the paper recommends dedicated flexibility and electricity market products, with pumped storage assets able to participate in multiple services. These arrangements should recognise contributions beyond energy trading, including frequency and voltage control, operating reserves, synchronous inertia and black start capability.
The report frames the need for investment around two challenges: replacing the dispatchable capacity and energy flexibility lost as fossil-fuel plants retire, and absorbing surplus renewable generation for use when output falls or demand increases. Without sufficient flexibility, it warns that power systems will remain exposed to thermal peaking generation, fuel-price volatility and geopolitical risks.
It also highlights pumped storage’s reliance on domestic water resources, topography and labour, together with opportunities to reuse reservoirs, lakes, existing hydropower infrastructure and former mine sites. The paper gives typical lifespans of 80–100 years for civil works and 40–60 years for electromechanical equipment.
IHA President Malcolm Turnbull said: “As countries seek to become energy secure and accelerate electrification, we cannot afford to overlook the infrastructure that makes these systems work. Pumped storage is a proven, long-term investment in national energy security and sovereignty. This paper gives governments a practical set of recommendations to turn that potential into projects, investment and greater resilience for their electricity systems.”
GAPS was launched at COP29 in Baku in November 2024 to support cooperation between governments and international agencies and accelerate pumped storage development worldwide. The paper notes that revenue mechanisms will be explored further in an upcoming IHA report.
