The main objective of the EU project ATLANTIS is the elaboration of an interdisciplinary technical and economic feasibility study on hybrid pumped-hydro power storage of excess energy from the electric grid and renewable sources.

The planned phasing-out of lignite mining in Europe requires innovative, economic and climate-friendly strategies to advance the transformation in former coal regions in agreement with the EU Green Deal. In addition, the efficient storage of renewable energies plays a key role in energy supply security. Pumped-hydro power plants are a promising technology for the flexible and efficient storage of large amounts of excess energy from the electricity grid as well as solar and/or wind sources. For that purpose, two or more water reservoirs located at different elevations are used. In the upper reservoir, water is stored in the form of potential energy, which can be recovered by draining water into the lower one. Consequently, pumping of water into the upper reservoir occurs when excess energy is available.

Within the framework of ATLANTIS, strategies for the transformation of two European coal mining regions into hybrid hydro-storage projects are being developed, and their feasibility is tested by a multidisciplinary approach. Thus, the envisaged utilisation concept offers a synergetic approach to master the regional transformation of mining landscapes in compliance with the EU Green Deal and contributes to the further development of sustainable energy supply.

The Section Fluid Systems Modelling contributes besides project coordination by assessments of the interaction between the water reservoirs and groundwater aquifers as well as of the techno-economic feasibility of the integrated storage concept.

Project partners:

• GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences (coordinator)
• GIG Central Mining Institute (Poland)
• PGE GiEK S.A. (Poland)
• CERTH The Centre for Research & Technology, Hellas (Greece)
• PPC S.A. (Greece)
• TU Berlin, Engineering Geology (Germany)

Project runtime: 01/09/2021-30/08/2024

Financial support: The project is funded by the European Union Research Fund for Coal and Steel (EU-RFCS) under the grant agreement No 101034022.