Edinburgh-based startup Gravitricity will collaborate with Swedish-Swiss engineering giant ABB on its GraviStore gravity energy storage system, which it plans to install in decommissioned mines.
The gravity battery system – which stores surplus renewable energy using weights that can be raised and lowered within vertical mineshafts – could form a vital missing link between photovoltaic or solar electricity generation and a reliable, consistent supply of clean power.
“As the world generates more electricity from intermittent renewable energy sources, there is a growing need for technologies which can capture and store energy during periods of low demand and release it rapidly when required,” said Martin Wright, Gravitricity’s co-founder and executive chairman.
“Our GraviStore underground gravity energy storage uses the force of gravity to offer some of the best characteristics of lithium-ion batteries and pumped hydro storage – at low cost, and without the need for any rare earth metals.”
The GraviStore gravity energy storage system (GESS) raises and lowers heavy weights within a closed shaft, such as those found in former mining installations. Such facilities are expensive and difficult to decommission and represent a general headache for owners – GraviStore promises another fifty years of productive function beyond the mines’ original projected lifetime.
“We are already seeing significant interest from mine operators in Europe, India and Australia and this partnership with ABB – with decades of electrification and mine hoist system expertise – will help us accelerate our ambitious commercialization plans,” says Martin. “I am delighted we are working in tandem.”
ABB’s century or so of experience in the mining sector and Gravitricity’s understanding of control systems and grid compliance promise to “acclerate the technology towards commercial adoption”, according to a press release issued by the Zurich-based company. But the firm’s industrial customers, many of whom will be wondering what to do with their coal mines, could soon offer crucial new sites for Gravitricity and the Gravistore product.
“We are eager to progress with our collaboration and explore the possibilities as we become part of the next generation of renewable energy storage systems and make use of mine shafts that are no longer in service,” said Charles Bennett, Global Service Manager, Business Line Hoisting, ABB Process Industries. “ABB has 130 years of history with mine hoists, since we first electrified one in Sweden in the 1890s, but this collaboration with Gravitricity shows how we can continue to diversify and adapt our technologies.”
ABB’s customers are likely to be thinking the same thing.
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