The new technology will work on the same model as hydropower plants while giving a more convenient solution for the energy sector’s rising demands.
RheEnergise is a U.K based startup that came up with this new technology. The novel method will captivate renewable energy utilizing the gravity of hills.
The new method utilizes the same framework as hydropower plants that pump water up on mountains when energy is available at comparatively low rates and release masses of water when it is needed to generate more power through spinning turbines.
Small Hills To Provide As Power Source
Huge dams need to be constructed for hydro-power plants’ functioning, asking for significant amounts of funds. However, this is where the new technology comes into play as it can be constructed on small hills and has fewer environmental hazards than large dams.
The new small design for storing energy has more extensive applicability, and that once again has all to do with its convenient and compact size compared with larger dams built on mountains.
In place of water, the new system from RheEnergise will use two times thicker fluid that will enable it to generate the same amount of energy as a large dam would. The dense fluid used in this novel way will move up and down through pipes. However, those will be underground so that it doesn’t affect the natural beauty of its installed place.
Storage Technology Catering Various Energy Sources
The system is scalable and could fit the specifications suiting best for the nearby wind or solar energy farm.
Stephen Crosher, chief executive of RheEnergise, said, “As the energy grid is transitioning to accommodate these distributed generation technologies, you also need a distributed storage technology, so you store it more locally to where it’s been produced. Then as you scale down the projects, rather than taking decades to build them, you can build projects in nine months, for a small one, and maybe 15 months for a large project.”
Crosher further explained that the system’s total price depends on the cost of renewable energy in a region. The renewables equipped by the novel storage system come with the potential to fit with energy solutions from new gas-fired power stations.
Many of the abandoned mines in the north of the U.K will also come to life with this novel energy-storing system as it comes with the potential to give them renewable energy-focused life. This is due to the reason that it comes with the ability to be installed underground.
The RheEnergise has traced about 9,500 sites in the U.K alone that are a perfect fit for this novel energy-storing system. The company said the technology is only months away to be installed at one point that they have traced to begin its initial operations, making their bid for backing the project with money even more secure.
