With the rise of intermittent renewable energy sources, like solar and wind, there needs to be a way to store excess energy produced and use it when it is not available. Many utilities use hydroelectric facilities where water is pumped up to an upper lake when energy is available and then back down through turbines when energy is needed. This, however, requires terrain to accommodate two lakes at different elevations.
Another similar technology is a gravity battery – utilizing a weight raised to a higher elevation. As the weight is lowered, a pulley turns a turbine to generate power. When excess power is available, the pulley raises the weight.
Energy Vault, a Swiss startup company, is currently building two gravity batteries – one in Shanghai, China and the other in Texas. The Texas battery will be 460 feet high and able to store 36 MWh. The unit is China will be able to store 100 MWh. Both will feature “bricks” made of materials like incinerated municipal waste, coal ash, and mine tailings – things that would have to be landfilled anyway.
The system has a roundtrip efficiency of more than 80% (you get 80% of the original energy back during discharge), which makes it more efficient than chemical batteries and a little more efficient than hydroelectric power. Best of all, the system can be put anywhere. So, we can all hope that utilities will put their “weight” behind an energy storage solution like this. – Steve Terry, DTC HVAC & Refrigeration Instructor
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