Pumped Storage Generation by Country

Pumped storage generation by country measures net electricity from pumped-storage hydro for each country, in billion kilowatt-hours (BkWh) per year. Pumped-storage facilities use electricity to pump water to an upper reservoir and later release it through turbines to generate electricity. Because more electricity is typically used for pumping than is recovered during generation, EIA reports pumped-storage net generation as negative. The statistics are based on the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) International Energy Statistics. The table covers 36 countries, with 36 reported 2024 values, and includes data from 2019 to 2024. The world net stood at -52.03 BkWh in 2024, down from -50.77 BkWh in 2023.

China (-18.00 BkWh) recorded the largest negative net generation value in 2024, followed by Japan (-7.02 BkWh) and the United States (-5.85 BkWh). Germany (-3.22 BkWh) and France (-2.09 BkWh) completed the top five by magnitude. Empty means no reported value, not zero.

Pumped Storage Generation by Country

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#	Country	2024 (BkWh)
1	China CN	-18
2	Japan JP	-7.02
3	United States US	-5.85
4	Germany DE	-3.22
5	France FR	-2.09
6	Spain ES	-2.08
7	Austria AT	-1.56
8	Switzerland CH	-1.41
9	South Africa ZA	-1.33
10	South Korea KR	-1.31
11	Russia RU	-1
12	Portugal PT	-0.99
13	Italy IT	-0.69
14	United Kingdom GB	-0.62
15	Taiwan TW	-0.62
16	Ukraine UA	-0.55
17	Norway NO	-0.47
18	Luxembourg LU	-0.41
19	Poland PL	-0.4
20	Belgium BE	-0.38
21	Czech Republic CZ	-0.26
22	Serbia RS	-0.25
23	Australia AU	-0.23
24	Greece GR	-0.21
25	Slovakia SK	-0.21
26	Lithuania LT	-0.2
27	Ireland IE	-0.16
28	Morocco MA	-0.1
29	Romania RO	-0.1
30	Canada CA	-0.1
31	Slovenia SI	-0.1
32	Croatia HR	-0.05
33	Argentina AR	-0.03
34	Bulgaria BG	-0.03
35	Sweden SE	-0.02
36	Bosnia and Herzegovina BA	-0.01

China recorded the largest negative value in 2024 at -18.00 BkWh, followed by Japan (-7.02 BkWh) and the United States (-5.85 BkWh). Because the series is negative by design, conventional percentage shares are not used; the comparison here focuses on the magnitude of each country's net balance.

Japan moved further into negative territory

Japan recorded the largest move toward the negative, from -4.22 to -7.02 BkWh (-2.80 BkWh). The world net moved from -50.77 to -52.03 BkWh, becoming 1.26 BkWh more negative. The United Kingdom moved the other way, from -1.80 to -0.62 BkWh, or 1.18 BkWh closer to zero.

Major pumped-storage markets moved in different directions

Japan's net value fell to -7.02 BkWh from -4.22 BkWh a year earlier. Germany (-3.22) and France (-2.09) also moved further negative, while China (-18.00), the United States (-5.85) and the United Kingdom (-0.62) moved closer to zero. No country reported a positive net value in any year.

Six years of pumped-storage net generation

Reported world net values were -36.96 BkWh in 2019, -38.80 BkWh in 2020, -41.68 BkWh in 2021, -44.30 BkWh in 2022, -50.77 BkWh in 2023 and -52.03 BkWh in 2024. The net deficit widened by about 40.8% in magnitude over the period, with the negative balance becoming larger in every year shown.

Why the values are negative

Pumped storage is an energy storage system rather than a primary electricity source. It uses electricity to move water to a higher reservoir and later generates electricity when the water is released. Because the charging process consumes more electricity than the facility returns to the grid, EIA records the resulting net generation as negative. In 2024, the world net value was -52.03 BkWh, and China's net value was -18.00 BkWh, the largest negative value in the series.

Pumped Storage Generation by Country

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#	Country	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
1	China	-10.75	-11.28	-13.58	-13.68	-18.91	-18
2	Japan	-3.28	-3.75	-4.3	-3.77	-4.22	-7.02
3	United States	-5.26	-5.32	-5.11	-6.03	-5.99	-5.85
4	Germany	-2.35	-2.32	-2.84	-3.04	-2.97	-3.22
5	France	-1.74	-1.69	-1.54	-1.92	-1.57	-2.09
6	Spain	-0.8	-1.13	-1.13	-1.59	-2.07	-2.08
7	Austria	-1.49	-1.46	-1.66	-2.02	-1.65	-1.56
8	Switzerland	-1.21	-1.31	-1.21	-1.63	-1.59	-1.41
9	South Africa	-1.57	-1.83	-1.69	-1.42	-1.32	-1.33
10	South Korea	-1.13	-1.08	-1.09	-1.1	-1.14	-1.31
11	Russia	-0.72	-0.72	-0.77	-0.67	-1.05	-1
12	Portugal	-0.4	-0.44	-0.42	-0.65	-0.8	-0.99
13	Italy	-0.63	-0.72	-0.82	-0.69	-0.63	-0.69
14	United Kingdom	-0.6	-0.53	-0.62	-0.61	-1.8	-0.62
15	Taiwan	-0.78	-0.78	-0.79	-0.61	-0.68	-0.62
16	Ukraine	-0.49	-0.49	-0.55	-0.55	-0.55	-0.55
17	Norway	-0.38	-0.29	-0.17	-0.48	-0.54	-0.47
18	Luxembourg	-0.36	-0.41	-0.38	-0.36	-0.37	-0.41
19	Poland	-0.33	-0.36	-0.36	-0.45	-0.53	-0.4
20	Belgium	-0.28	-0.35	-0.3	-0.44	-0.44	-0.38
21	Czech Republic	-0.34	-0.39	-0.36	-0.29	-0.32	-0.26
22	Serbia	-0.36	-0.36	-0.25	-0.45	-0.14	-0.25
23	Australia	-0.26	-0.26	-0.27	-0.38	-0.38	-0.23
24	Greece	-0.02	-0.04	-0.02	-0.06	-0.1	-0.21
25	Slovakia	-0.1	-0.11	-0.11	-0.11	-0.13	-0.21
26	Lithuania	-0.21	-0.28	-0.26	-0.21	-0.19	-0.2
27	Ireland	-0.23	-0.24	-0.22	-0.16	-0.14	-0.16
28	Morocco	-0.14	-0.15	-0.15	-0.13	-0.07	-0.1
29	Romania	-0.13	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1	-0.15	-0.1
30	Canada	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1
31	Slovenia	-0.07	-0.1	-0.1	-0.09	-0.1	-0.1
32	Croatia	-0.05	-0.06	-0.04	-0.04	-0.04	-0.05
33	Argentina	-0.2	-0.08	-0.17	-0.25	-0.02	-0.03
34	Bulgaria	-0.2	-0.22	-0.13	-0.13	-0.03	-0.03
35	Sweden	-0.01	-0.02	-0.02	-0.04	-0.02	-0.02
36	Bosnia and Herzegovina	-0.03	-0.03	-0.04	-0.04	0	-0.01

Methodology

The statistics are based on the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) International Energy Statistics. Values represent annual net pumped-storage hydro generation in billion kilowatt-hours (BkWh). All reported values are zero or negative; negative means electricity consumed for pumping exceeded electricity generated by the pumped-storage facilities on a net basis. Where no value is available, the cell is left empty. A value of 0 indicates that the source reports zero. Country shares are not shown because conventional percentage shares are not meaningful for a negative world total. This page covers pumped-storage net generation only; other hydro and total generation are reported separately in the source.