Timothy Weber has a BEng(Hons) with First Class Honours from the Australian National University. He is currently a PhD candidate in the College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics at the Australian National University.

Mr. Weber worked at the Clean Energy Regulator as a Regulatory Officer and Senior Project Officer from 2020–2022, primarily focused on Large-scale Renewable Energy Target operations.

At the end of 2022, Mr. Weber returned to the Australian National University as a Research Officer in the 100% Renewable Energy Group. His research has focused on long-term energy planning tools to capture seasonal storage behaviour, developing the Global Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Atlases, and building the Pumped Hydro Shortlisting Tool.  As part of this ongoing work, Mr. Weber has supported Australian Government initiatives exploring the potential for pumped hydro energy storage in Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) Member States, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Lao PDR. These activities have included the delivery of in-country knowledge sharing workshops, virtual capacity building courses, research reports, and masterclasses for delegations visiting the Australian National University that include Ministers, senior policymakers, executives, and technical staff from Southeast Asian energy utilities and government ministries.

Mr. Weber started his PhD in January 2024, investigating the efficient integration of energy storage systems into future renewable electricity grids and markets. He has published academic papers in Energy Conversion and Management  and Renewable Energy  focused on the feasibility of solar-dominant grids supported by pumped hydro in the Sunbelt region and a global atlas of possible pumped hydro systems that repurpose existing mines.

Publications

Weber, T., Stocks, R., Blakers, A., Nadolny, A. and Cheng, C., 2024. A global atlas of pumped hydro systems that repurpose existing mining sites. Renewable Energy, 224, p.120113. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2024.120113

Weber, T., Blakers, A., Silalahi, D.F., Catchpole, K. and Nadolny, A., 2024. Grids dominated by solar and pumped hydro in wind-constrained sunbelt countries. Energy Conversion and Management, 308, p.118354. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2024.118354

Blakers, A., Weber, T. and Silalahi, D., 2025. Pumped hydro energy storage to support 100% renewable energy. Progress in Energy, 7(2), p.022004. DOI: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2516-1083/adaabd/meta

Media

Why build nuclear power in place of old coal when you could have pumped hydropower instead?
Researchers found 37 mine sites in Australia that could be converted into renewable energy storage so what are we waiting for?
Decarbonising Southeast Asia through solar and pumped hydro 
Australia's energy storage forecasts are broken

Research interests

Long-term energy planning
Pumped hydro energy storage
Electricity markets
Energy system modelling
 

Areas of expertise

Pumped hydro energy storage
Energy system modelling