Published: 12 Mar 2021, 05:46
By:
Molly Lempriere
Gravitricity engineering project manager Frances Tierney, with senior mechanical engineer Steven Kirk by the tower. Image: Gravitricity.
A new market mechanism for longer-duration storage should be created according to the UK’s Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA).
In a new report, the trade association formerly known as the Renewable Energy Association looked into the need for longer-duration storage and the current challenges facing the technology, with a focus on storage with a duration of up to 24 hours. Technologies could include flow batteries, gravity batteries, pumped hydro, liquid air energy storage (LAES) and compressed air energy storage (CAES).
Edinburgh s £1 million gravity energy storage demonstrator nears testing insider.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from insider.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Gravity energy storage project lifts off in Edinburgh
The £1m demonstrator project will use underground shafts and massive weights to store energy
Image: Gravitricity
One of the universe’s fundamental forces, gravity is set to power an energy storage project in Edinburgh.
Located at Forth Port’s Prince Albert Dock, the £1 million demonstration project will use underground shafts and massive weights to store energy.
The plant comprises a 15-metre tower, two 25-tonnes weights suspended by steel cables and two fully grid-connected generator units.
The project is supported by a £640,000 grant from Innovate UK.
Frances Tierney, Engineering Project Manager, said: “We calculate we can go from zero to full power in less than a second, which can be extremely valuable in the frequency response and backup power markets.
Gravitricity has celebrated a new milestone, as the 15-metre high lattice tower for its storage demonstrator project is installed ahead of testing beginning next month.