The energy storage tech uses a patented fluid which is two and half times denser than water and is equally efficient at 40 percent volume.RheEnergise, a UK-based energy startup developing new high-density hydro storage technology, is setting up a 500 kilowatt demonstrator at a mining site near Plymouth. The first-of-its-kind facility aims to help decarbonize the site’s energy consumption and is supported by the government’s Longer Duration Energy Storage Demonstration Programme.
When the energy supply is low, water from the higher reservoir is released back to the lower one, where it passes through turbines generating electricity. While the technology seems straightforward, SwitzerlandEven if the industry were willing to spend many years building such systems in other parts of the world, for the technology to be effective, one needs high mountains and ample water, which isn’t available equally everywhere.
Further, the fluid’s energy delivery capacity is higher. It can generate the same output as water even when the height differential between the tanks is 40 percent. This effectively means that the system can also be installed on smaller hills, making it easier to erect such infrastructure. According to RheEnergise, there are 6,500 potential sites in the UK alone. It is building its first full-scale demonstrator at Cornwood near Plymouth, where kaolin is mined.
Details on how much of the site’s energy consumption will be offset this way or how much it costs to build and operate it aren’t available. However, the company told