Hydro is renewable, can deal with peaks and not directly dependent on weather.
Use its power down when in need of electricity. Bring water up hill when too much electricity is available.
Use its power down when in need of electricity. Bring water up hill when too much electricity is available.
Right before the last rush to build nuclear, Europe went through an energy crisis where they did also use reverse hydro. In recent time there has been discussion to modernize and reuse those old installations, but the issue is costs. Buying energy to sell it later, while maintaining and operating the hydro power plants and pumps are not cheap (not to mention building out transmission). Even at current fossil fuel prices, natural gas and oil is cheaper and thus reverse hydro is not economical viable.
Besides, not every country can effectively utilize hydroelectric power.
Germany, like other countries, should be investing in a mix of power sources. You probably want your backbone to be nuclear and then renewables where it makes sense with a goal (at least in western countries) of also eliminating reliance on China for renewables/batteries.
Dogmatism about renewables is self-defeating.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333873233_Hidden_ca...
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/12/elephant-in-the-ro...