The first closed-loop pumped storage registered as storage

ANEEL has registered, through Order 3,960/2026, the first grant application for a closed-loop pumped storage hydropower plant treated as a storage system: UHR Salto Timbé do Sul, by AMUR Ltda., with 5.2 MW planned in Santa Catarina. The registration, under REN 1,161/2026, is valid for four years without extension and does not guarantee authorisation.

The feature that distinguishes pumped storage is duration. Duke Energy asked FERC for a further 50 years of operation for the Bad Creek pumped storage plant, operating since 1991 and expanded from 1,360 to 1,680 MW between 2000 and 2024, according to Industrial Info of 20 August 2025. Report PNNL-33283, of August 2022, adopts a 16-year calendar life for LFP batteries.

Reservoirs and civil works outlast several equipment replacements, which gives pumped storage a residual value that batteries do not have over the same horizon. The publication, by an insurance broker, lists insurance policies and does not state capacity in MWh, schedule or investment.

The registration opens the way to licensing and financiers. In an asset that can operate for generations, the value lies in what keeps generating after the debt is paid.