Quantification of carbon footprint of typical pumped storage power stations in China

To support the development of a new power system under China's dual carbon goals and clarify the low-carbon attributes and emission reduction capabilities of pumped storage power stations, this study selected the Yimeng station in Shandong and the Dunhua station in Jilin as case studies. A hybrid Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, combining process-based analysis and the input-output method, was employed to estimate the life cycle carbon emissions of both stations. The scope of the assessment specifically considered emissions from electricity consumption during pumping operations and from the upper and lower reservoirs. Results indicate that the total lifecycle carbon emissions for the Yimeng and Dunhua projects amount to 2.21 million tCO_2eq and 1.86 million tCO_2eq respectively. Carbon emissions from electricity consumption during pumping operations are 0.85 million tCO_2eq and 0.456 million tCO_2eq respectively, while reservoir-related emissions were 97, 800 tCO2eq and 38, 000 tCO2eq respectively. The carbon emission factors were 22.12±0.43 gCO_2eq/kWh and 15.97±0.37 gCO_2eq/kWh respectively, significantly lower than those of thermal power generation, and are comparable to flywheel energy storage and liquid hydrogen storage.. These findings further substantiate the clean energy attributes of pumped storage power stations, demonstrating their effectiveness in energy conservation and emission reduction.