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m Types of batteries -- most common and reliable PSH should be first in the section, not emerging and less efficient commercial proposals that have not been widely adopted or proven at scale.
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Gravitricity's 250&nbsp;kW demonstrator is expected to be $1.25 million, promising a 50-year lifespan and efficiency of 80–90%. Relative costs of gravity storage installations that would use 2000-tonne weights suspended from winches in disused mineshafts, compared with [[lithium ion batteries]], indicate that although the "up front cost is high" the 25-year lifespan of such equipment—with no degradation of capacity during use—makes a "compelling proposition" for large-scale grid balancing purposes.<ref>{{cite news|last1=O'Neill|first1=Neasan|date=23 April 2018|title=Is gravity and old mineshafts the next breakthrough in energy storage?|language=en|work=Imperial College News|publisher=[[Imperial College London]]|url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/185896/are-gravity-mineshafts-next-breakthrough-energy/}}</ref>
Gravitricity's 250&nbsp;kW demonstrator is expected to be $1.25 million, promising a 50-year lifespan and efficiency of 80–90%. Relative costs of gravity storage installations that would use 2000-tonne weights suspended from winches in disused mineshafts, compared with [[lithium ion batteries]], indicate that although the "up front cost is high" the 25-year lifespan of such equipment—with no degradation of capacity during use—makes a "compelling proposition" for large-scale grid balancing purposes.<ref>{{cite news|last1=O'Neill|first1=Neasan|date=23 April 2018|title=Is gravity and old mineshafts the next breakthrough in energy storage?|language=en|work=Imperial College News|publisher=[[Imperial College London]]|url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/185896/are-gravity-mineshafts-next-breakthrough-energy/}}</ref>


Unlike pumped-storage hydroelectricity, solar panels, and wind turbines, which can only operate under certain conditions or in certain areas, gravity batteries like those proposed by EnergyVault and Gravitricity can be built anywhere in the world and use materials from the building site. Gravity batteries will make solar and wind more viable as they can store the excess energy they make during peak hours and distribute it later when needed.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Full Page Reload|url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/environment/mix-mountains-and-gravity-for-longterm-energy-storage|access-date=2020-11-16|website=IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News|language=en}}</ref>
Unlike pumped-storage hydroelectricity, solar panels, and wind turbines, which can only operate under certain conditions or in certain areas, gravity batteries like those proposed by EnergyVault and Gravitricity may have a wider range of suitable sites. Gravity batteries will make solar and wind more viable as they can store the excess energy they make during peak hours and distribute it later when needed.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Full Page Reload|url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/environment/mix-mountains-and-gravity-for-longterm-energy-storage|access-date=2020-11-16|website=IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News|language=en}}</ref>


== Environmental impacts ==
== Environmental impacts ==

Revision as of 05:04, 17 February 2022

A gravity battery is a type of energy storage device that stores gravitational energy, the energy stored in an object resulting from a change in height due to gravity, also called potential energy. A gravity battery works by using excess energy from the grid to raise a mass to generate gravitational potential energy, which is then dropped to convert potential energy into electricity through an electric generator. Energy generated from a gravity battery is a form of sustainable energy. One form of a gravity battery is one that lowers a mass, such as a block of concrete, to generate electricity. The most common gravity battery is used in pumped-storage hydroelectricity, where water is pumped to higher elevations to store energy and released through water turbines to generate electricity.[1]

Development

The earliest form of a device that used gravity to power mechanical movement was the pendulum clock, invented in 1656 by Christiaan Huygens. The clock was powered by the force of gravity using an escapement mechanism, that made a pendulum move back and forth. Since then, gravity batteries have advanced into systems that can harness the power of gravity and turn it into electricity for large scale energy storage.

The first gravity based pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH) system was developed in 1907 in Switzerland. In 1930, pumped-storage came to the United States by the Connecticut Electric and Power Company. As of 2019, the total world capacity for PSH is 168 GW (gigawatts).[2] The United States has 23 GW capacity from PSH, accounting for nearly 2% of the energy supply system and 95% of utility-scale energy storage in the US. Gravity based pumped-storage electricity is currently the largest form of grid energy storage in the world.[3][4][5][6]

In 2012, Martin Riddiford and Jim Reeves developed the first functioning prototype of GravityLight, a small-scale gravity battery that is now commercially available in certain countries.[7]

Energy Vault, an energy storage company, is also currently working on research and testing to develop gravity batteries on a larger scale. Founded by Bill Gross, Andrea Pedretti, and Robert Piconi in 2017, Energy Vault is currently in the midst of taking what GravityLight created to a larger scale. Energy Vault is developing a crane that generates electricity from dropping blocks of concrete rather than water. Energy Vault has not specified a release date for its product, but prototypes are in the works and Energy Vault's stacked blocks concept is being built to be a promising long-duration storage technology.[8][9][10] In late 2020, the Swiss company built in Arbedo-Castione six cranes installed in a 110-meter-high tower moving a 35-ton concrete block up and down that can store 80 megawatt hours of energy.[11][12]

Cascadia Carbon Inc., a Portland, Oregon headquartered climate technology company, is also developing a potential energy battery for renewable grid stability in conjunction with University of British Columbia[citation needed]. Their pilot project aims to provide a commercial proof-of-concept which can be expanded to accommodate the gigawatts of new solar and wind storage which will be coming online over the next decade as the world begins to decarbonize the electrical grid.[13][unreliable source]

Gravitricity, another gravity battery company, is working on another approach to a new energy storage system. Founded in 2011 by inventor Peter Fraenkel, Gravitricity built a 15 meter 250 kilowatt gravity battery prototype in Scotland that started trial operations and grid-connection in 2021.[14][15][16] In April 2021, Gravitricity had installed a gravity battery which generated its first power at a site in Edinburgh.[17]

Mechanisms and parts

Gravity batteries can have different designs and structures, but all gravity batteries use the same properties of physics to generate energy. Gravitational potential energy is the work required to move an object in the opposite direction of Earth's gravity, expressed by the equation

where U is gravitational potential energy, m is the mass of the object, g is the acceleration of the object due to gravity (9.8 m/s on earth), and h is the height of the object. Using the work-energy principle, the total amount of energy generated can be expressed by the equation

where E is the total amount of energy generated and h1 and h2 represent the initial and final heights of an object. The change of energy directly correlates to the vertical displacement of a mass; the higher a mass is lifted, the more gravitational potential energy is stored. The change in energy also directly correlates to the mass of an object; the heavier the mass, the bigger the change in energy.

In a gravity battery, a mass is displaced, or lifted, to generate gravitational potential energy that is transformed into electricity. Gravity batteries store gravitational potential energy by lifting a mass to a certain height using a pump, crane, or motor. After the mass is lifted, it now stores a certain gravitational potential energy based on the mass of the object and how high it was lifted. The stored gravitational potential energy is then transferred into electricity. The mass is lowered to fall back to its original height, which causes a generator to spin and create electricity.

Types of gravity batteries

One structure of a gravity battery uses a very tall structure with a heavy mass. This tall structure can be built above ground, such as a tall building or tower, or a deep hole can be drilled into earth's surface to a certain depth necessary for the battery to meet specifications. A mass is lifted to the top of the tower, or the top of the hole, using a system of pulleys. Energy is needed to lift the mass, but this energy is usually surplus energy that is used during times when energy production is greater than the demand. When the surplus energy runs out, the mass is then dropped to generate electricity through the generator.[18]

Large scale

One form of a gravity battery is pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), the largest form of grid-energy storage. PSH uses water instead of a solid mass, which is pumped from a lower reservoir to a higher reservoir before being released through turbines to create energy. An alternative proposal uses a proprietary high-density liquid, 2+1⁄2 times denser than water, which requires a smaller head (elevation) and thus decreases the size and cost of the necessary infrastructure.[19][20]

Energy-storage-by-rail is a concept where excess renewable energy is used to run heavy trains cars uphill during times of low energy demand. The potential energy is released later by using regenerative braking as they roll downhill, acting as a gravity battery.[21] A utility-scale facility called GravityLine began construction in Nevada in October 2020. GravityLine is being constructed by Advanced Rail Energy Storage (ARES) located at the Gamebird Pit gravel mine in the Pahrump Valley, Nevada. The 50-MW facility is expected to store excess renewable energy from Western U.S. sources and deliver up to 15 minutes of regulation services at full capacity.[22]

Lifted Weight Storage (LWS) technology is developed by Energozapas company. LWS operational principle is based on consuming electricity while lifting weights vertically in respect to the Earth's gravitational field (several hundred meters high) and generating energy when weights are lowered. Solid blocks made of pressed soil act as weights. Load bearing structure is a reinforced concrete construction, built with the help of construction robots. Energozapas technology enables to build industrial scale energy storages starting with 10MW in power. Storage lifetime is 50 years, roundtrip efficiency is 83%.[23]

Lift Renewable Energy uses a form of gravity battery. To store energy, buoyant gas containers are pulled down into water by a winch, water is in effect lifted hundreds of meters. The cycle is then reversed and electricity is generated as the gas containers rise. Relatively little infrastructure is required, the batteries can be sited near major population centers and round trip efficiency is 85+%. The system can be scaled from KWH's to GWH's.

Energy Vault 60 meter prototype in Castione-Arbedo 2021

EnergyVault is working on developing large scale gravity batteries. The gravity battery they are working on developing is an energy storage tower built from concrete blocks. 120 meter cranes use excess energy from the electric grid to lift and stack concrete blocks, each weighing 32 metric tons. Energy is retrieved when bricks are lowered to generate energy by turning a generator. One commercial unit can store 20 MWh or energy, or enough to power 2,000 Swiss homes a day.[9]

Gravitricity's gravity battery unit consists of a convertible electric winch/generator, cables, a large weight, and vertical shaft going 150 to 1500 meters underground using disused mine shafts initially. The electric winch lifts a weight weighing from 500 to 5000 tonnes to the top of the shaft. When the weight is lowered, it rotates the electric winch within a magnetic field to generate energy. The system generates 10 MWh, enough power for 13,000 homes for two hours. The battery can also be controlled to drop the weight quickly for a small burst of high-power energy.[14]

Small scale

GravityLight is a small gravity-powered light that operates by manually lifting a bag of rocks or sand up and then letting it fall by itself to generate energy. The GravityLight was designed to help the almost one billion people in the world who do not have a source of electricity, as it would eliminate the need for people who do not have access to electricity to rely on kerosene lamps, which are expensive, dangerous, and polluting.[7][24][25]

Economics and efficiency

Cost of gravity batteries varies by design.

Pumped storage hydropower costs $165/kWh to operate, with a levelized cost of storage (LCOS), of $0.17/kWh.[26][27] The pumps and turbines of PSH systems operate at up to 90% efficiency.[28]

EnergyVault's proposed gravity battery system range from 7 to 8 million in building price but has a LCOS of $0.05/kWh and a round-trip efficiency of 88–92%. This is 50% cheaper when compared to the LCOS of lithium-ion batteries, which are $0.25/kWh-$0.35/kWh.[29]

Gravitricity's 250 kW demonstrator is expected to be $1.25 million, promising a 50-year lifespan and efficiency of 80–90%. Relative costs of gravity storage installations that would use 2000-tonne weights suspended from winches in disused mineshafts, compared with lithium ion batteries, indicate that although the "up front cost is high" the 25-year lifespan of such equipment—with no degradation of capacity during use—makes a "compelling proposition" for large-scale grid balancing purposes.[30]

Unlike pumped-storage hydroelectricity, solar panels, and wind turbines, which can only operate under certain conditions or in certain areas, gravity batteries like those proposed by EnergyVault and Gravitricity may have a wider range of suitable sites. Gravity batteries will make solar and wind more viable as they can store the excess energy they make during peak hours and distribute it later when needed.[18][31]

Environmental impacts

Gravity batteries are designed to be paired with renewable energy solutions whose sources (sunlight, wind, etc) are frequently variable and do not necessarily coincide with demand. It is hoped that they will have a better long term cost than chemical batteries, while having fewer environmental issues than other traditional storage solutions such as pumped-water storage. It is anticipated that gravity battery systems will be able to quickly provide power during peak consumption which may allow them to supplement or replace fossil fuel peaking power plants. Single weight systems are expected to be able to achieve full power generation in less than a second.[15]

Implementing gravity batteries on a larger scale would therefore decrease the need for fossil fuels, significantly cutting down CO2 emissions.[citation needed]

Gravity batteries are more environmentally friendly than lithium-ion batteries, since lithium-ion batteries have a shorter lifetime and problems arise when they need to be disposed of.[1]

Gravity (chemical) battery

Further information: Daniell cell § Gravity cell

From 1870 to 1930,[32] the term "gravity battery" was used to describe a collection of popular battery types where gravity was used to keep the chemical constituents separate based on their respective densities.[33]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Chaturvedi, D.K.; Yadav, Shubham; Srivastava, Tamanna; Kumari, Tanvi (July 27, 2020). "Electricity storage system: A Gravity Battery". 2020 Fourth World Conference on Smart Trends in Systems, Security and Sustainability (WorldS4). London, United Kingdom: IEEE: 412–416. doi:10.1109/WorldS450073.2020.9210321. ISBN 978-1-7281-6823-4.
  2. ^ "International - U.S. Energy Information Administration". Energy Information Administration. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  3. ^ "Most pumped storage electricity generators in the U.S. were built in the 1970s - Today in Energy - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)". www.eia.gov. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  4. ^ "Pumped Hydropower". Energy Storage Association. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  5. ^ "Pumped-Storage Hydropower". Energy.gov. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  6. ^ "2018 Pumped Storage Report" (PDF). National Hydropower Association. January 1, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  7. ^ a b "When Gravity Equals Light". July 3, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  8. ^ Spector, Julian (April 3, 2020). "The 5 Most Promising Long-Duration Storage Technologies Left Standing". Greentech Media. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  9. ^ a b "EnergyVault". EnergyVault: Enabling a Renewable World. EnergyVault. 2020.
  10. ^ Kelly-Detwiler, Peter (October 14, 2019). "Energy Vault Receives $110 Million From SoftBank For Gravity-Assisted Power Storage". Forbes. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  11. ^ "Revolutionary idea to store green power for the grid". swissinfo.ch. January 3, 2020.
  12. ^ "What is the 'gravity energy storage system' that is attracting attention as a low-cost energy storage means?". gigazine.net. January 7, 2021.
  13. ^ "Cascadia Carbon".
  14. ^ a b "Fast, long-life energy storage". Gravitricity. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  15. ^ a b Moore, Samuel K. (January 5, 2021). "Gravity Energy Storage Will Show Its Potential in 2021". IEEE Spectrum. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  16. ^ "Gravitricity celebrates success of 250kW energy storage demonstrator". Solar Power Portal.
  17. ^ "Gravitricity battery generates first power at Edinburgh site". BBC. April 21, 2021.
  18. ^ a b says, Len Gardiner (February 20, 2020). "What Are Gravity Batteries?". TheGreenAge. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  19. ^ Ambrose, Jillian (February 8, 2021). "Powering up: UK hills could be used as energy 'batteries'". the Guardian.
  20. ^ "RheEnergise Home Page". www.rheenergise.com. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  21. ^ Massey, Nathanael. "Energy Storage Hits the Rails Out West". Scientific American. Archived from the original on December 4, 2017. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  22. ^ Hebrock, Robin (October 16, 2020). "Energy storage project breaks ground in Pahrump". Pahrump Valley Times. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  23. ^ "Energozapas: Grid-scale gravity-based energy storage technology above 300 MWh".
  24. ^ "GravityLight - light from the lift of a weight". deciwatt.global. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  25. ^ "GravityLight". Deciwatt. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  26. ^ "Energy Storage Technology and Cost Characterization Report" (PDF). U.S. Department of Energy. July 1, 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  27. ^ "Pumped-hydro energy storage – cost estimates for a feasible system". Brave New Climate. April 5, 2010. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  28. ^ "Pump Up the Storage | Do the Math". Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  29. ^ "Tower of power: gravity-based storage evolves beyond pumped hydro". www.power-technology.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  30. ^ O'Neill, Neasan (April 23, 2018). "Is gravity and old mineshafts the next breakthrough in energy storage?". Imperial College News. Imperial College London.
  31. ^ "Full Page Reload". IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  32. ^ "Google Ngram search for popularity of the term Gravity Battery". Archived from the original on April 8, 2020.
  33. ^ "Gravity Batteries by Robert Murray-Smith".
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