One of the biggest drawbacks to renewable energies like wind and solar, is that it is unpredictable. This presents a challenge to grid operators, as they struggle to meet demand while compensating for calm winds or clouds. One method of balancing supply and demand that is garnering some attention lately, is pumped storage hydroelectric power stations.

The concept is quite simple, and facilities like this already exist in many countries around the world. It is a matter of taking unneeded renewable power at off-peak times to pump water to a location where it is ready to be released and generate hydroelectric power. There are close to a dozen facilities like this in the US alone, none in Canada unfortunately.

比利时最近宣布计划建造一个海上水力发电蓄水池，但不是把水抽进去，而是抽出去。一个人造的马蹄形岛屿将被建造，中间有一个湖。风力涡轮机产生的多余能量将被用来抽水，然后在高峰时间，海水将被允许通过水力涡轮机回流。

By storing excess power, the system will increase its effectiveness in two ways - by making use of energy that is often dumped from wind farms at off-peak hours, and to be able to ramp up the supply instantly with stored green energy.

”We have a lot of energy from the windmills and sometimes it just gets lost because there isn't enough demand for the electricity", said a spokeswoman for Belgium's North Sea minister Johan Vande Lanotteto Reuters．

The project is expected to take between 5 and 7 years to complete, though cost estimates have not been released. Excess power will be able to be sold off to other nations such as the UK, which will be able to connect directly to it under the sea.

目前，比利时一半以上的电力供应来自核能，他们希望到2025年完全停止使用核能。这个项目将帮助他们实现这个目标。