Gravity battery construction kicks off in Scotland

Every year, the production of green electricity is increasing and the issue of accumulating, storing and releasing energy is becoming more acute when the sun does not shine and the wind does not blow.

So here is the Scottish company Gravitricity started construction of a prototype gravitational energy storage and storage system (gravitational battery), where the accumulation of energy is carried out due to "gravity", raising and lowering huge weights.

How the gravity battery works

Imagine a metal spring. So, if you squeeze it, it will accumulate potential energy, and when you release it, it will begin to straighten and thus release the previously accumulated energy.

So the principle of operation of the demo gravitational battery is the same. Only instead of a spring, loads weighing from 500 to 5000 tons are used here.

So, when these weights are raised to a height with the help of a system of cables and winches, a large amount of potential energy is accumulated.

When energy is needed, these weights can be lowered into the mines, while the winch will rotate, which will rotate the generator and thus generate electricity to the grid.

What are the parameters of the demo gravity battery

According to company representatives Gravitricity, gravitational energy storage units can deliver peak power from 1 to 20 MW, and at the same time, the service life can be up to 50 years without any significant loss of productivity.

Moreover, this type of "battery" will be able to deliver peak power literally in a fraction of a second after starting work. In this case, the minimum “discharge” time will be 15 minutes, and the maximum will reach 8 hours.

In order to charge such a system, surplus electricity generated by solar panels or wind generators will be used. This will set in motion the winches, which will lift the loads back up.

So the effectiveness of such a system is from 80% before 90%. At the same time, the cost of energy storage will be lower than modern solutions based on lithium-ion batteries.

At the moment, the construction of the gravity tower is at an early stage, but according to the project, its height will be equals 16 meters, two blocks weighing 25 tons each will rise and fall, and the output will be equal to 250 kW.

The construction is planned to be completed in the spring of 2021. At the same time, all planned installation tests will be performed. It is also planned that in A full-scale project with a total capacity of 4 MW will be launched in 2021.

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