Skip to main content Skip to secondary navigation

Engaging water supply system storage as a distributed flexible energy resource

Main content start

PIs: Meagan Mauter, Civil and Environmental Engineering, WE3 Lab 

Postdoc: Erin Musabandesu, Civil and Environmental Engineering, WE3 Lab 

Water supply systems can function as energy storage by exploiting flexible pump operations enhanced by widespread elevated water storage reservoirs and tanks throughout the system. This virtual battery mimics pumped hydropower; in lieu of turbines that would reclaim the stored energy, the gravitational potential energy is used to distribute water to urban consumers. This project will investigate the opportunities and limitations of leveraging excess water storage in water supply systems as a virtual battery to store energy and reduce carbon emissions. We will conduct a broader survey of water distribution systems to estimate energy storage capacity over a range of network characteristics and identify investment opportunities to increase the capacity or flexibility of virtual energy storage. We will also develop a multiobjective optimization framework that analyzes the capacity of water transmission and distribution systems to provide energy storage services and reduce carbon emissions while maintaining the core objectives of water quality and supply resilience.