Terna to start building 730 MW pumped storage hydropower plant in October

Terna Energy is preparing to begin the construction of a pumped storage hydropower system in western Greece worth EUR 500 million. The Amfilochia unit will have a capacity of 680 MW in turbine mode and 730 MW for pumping.

Hydroelectric Projects Director of  Terna Energy Yioula Tsiknakou has announced at IENE’s conference that the Greek company reached a final investment decision for its pumped storage hydropower plant in the northwestern part of Aetolia-Acarnania. As reported by EnergyPress, she said the construction is scheduled to start in October and last up to four years.

The Amfilochia system, valued at EUR 500 million, is envisaged to have a capacity of 680 MW in turbine mode and 730 MW for pumping. It will consist of upper reservoirs Agios Georgios and Pyrgos and a common lower reservoir, the existing Kastraki lake, built in 1960 and owned by state-controlled Public Power Corp. (PPC). The equipment will be installed in two separate powerhouses on the northeastern bank.

The system will store excess electricity from wind, photovoltaic and thermal power plants, documentation shows. The Agios Georgios section is planned to have four units with 460 MW in total in turbine mode and 496 MW in pumping mode. It compares to 220 MW and 234 MW, respectively, in the two units in Pyrgos, also a semi-outdoor facility. Annual output is seen at 816 GWh.

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Terna obtained strategic investment, PCI statuses for its Amfilochia pumped storage project

The surface of the Pyrgos reservoir is predicted to be 285 meters above the lower reservoir and Agios Georgios should be 238 meters higher than the Kastraki lake.

The company, part of the GEK Terna Group, obtained the production licenses and interconnection clearance for the pumped storage project intended for the integration of renewable energy sources. The European Commission approved the status of a project of common interest or PCI in 2013 for the system in Amfilochia, while one year after that Greece declared it a strategic investment.

The firm estimated the project in the western part of the country would be 70% domestically sourced. It will employ 1,200 people during construction and 100 permanent jobs should be created.

Plans underway in Crete for Europe’s biggest hybrid power plant using renewable sources

According to Terna Energy, its licensed pumped storage projects in the Balkan country, including Amfilochia, will have a combined capacity of 1.5 GW.

One of them is planned to be implemented at the Potamoi dam in Crete. The company said Amari is the largest hybrid power project in Europe. It combines energy produced by two wind farms with an installed capacity of 89.1 MW in the prefecture of Lassithi; a hydroelectric power with a capacity of up to 93 MW and a pump complex of 140 MW. Terna calculated it ensures a constant 227 MW of power, reducing the need for fossil fuels, alongside flood protection.

The Amari facility in Greece’s biggest island will combine two wind farms, a hydroelectric plant and a pump complex with 322.1 MW in total capacity

The pump system will be installed underground at the existing reservoir of the Amari river dam. It will consist of three constant speed turbine pumps of 31 MW each and twelve variable speed pumps of 3.2 MW each.

Terna said it would build an upper reservoir with a capacity of 1.2 million cubic meters. The pumping units will be powered exclusively from the Sitia wind farm. The project is valued at EUR 280 million. More than 1,000 jobs will be created for the construction and there will be at least 100 permanent ones.