Pumped storage is a good way to store energy, but in many places it is impossible to build a dam, or water is too precious. A startup called Energy Vault in Switzerland designed an energy library system. A viable alternative to pumping water: Instead of using water and dams, the company uses concrete blocks and cranes.
So far, about 96% of the world's energy storage dams use the same technology: pumped storage. Whenever the power generation exceeds demand, excess electricity is used to pump water into the dam. When demand exceeds power generation When the gravity changes, the water level will drop, which will cause the turbine to generate electricity.
However, pumped storage requires a specific geographical location, and no place can store energy in this way. To this end, a Swiss startup called Energy Vault has designed an energy storage system, which is also a viable pumping alternative. : The company does not use water and dams, but uses concrete blocks and cranes.
Here's how it works: In the middle is a 120-meter-high six-arm crane. In the initial state, each 35-ton concrete cylinder is neatly stacked below the crane arm.
When there is excess solar or wind energy, the energy storage system remotely connects to the camera on the crane arm via the control system, guiding one or more crane arms to the concrete block, and then using excess energy to stack the concrete blocks. The figure below shows the demonstration unit, which is only 10% of the actual unit.
Then, when the solar energy or wind energy is insufficient to meet the demand, the generator block is used to drive the generator to generate electricity.
This is similar to pumping storage, storing energy by pumping water to a high reservoir, and rotating the turbine to recover energy by letting the water fall.
But in many places, building a dam is either impossible or the water is too precious.
The use of this stacked concrete block to store energy is very basic and uses maximum efficiency.
Next, the company hopes to build a larger operating module, with plans to use 120-meter-high cranes and 35-ton concrete blocks each.
When the crane forms a concrete block tower around it, the system is 'fully charged', and when the total energy stored in the tower is 20 MWh, it is enough to power 2000 Swiss homes all day.
When the grid is running out of power, the generator drives electricity by gravity. In addition, the system's utilization efficiency is 85%, which is equivalent to 90% utilization of lithium-ion batteries. However, Energy Vault's factory can run for 30 years, almost no need Maintenance, and the cost is extremely low, this is the advantage that lithium batteries do not have.
