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For all the joy over new sorts of batteries, pumped hydropower continues to be by far the only largest type of vitality storage within the US right now, simply because it has been for the final 100 years or so. The know-how might proceed to dominate for the following 100 years, too. Pumped storage is getting a twenty first century makeover,with modularity, 3-D printing and subsea development within the combine.
The Bulk Power Storage System Of Right this moment, Yesterday
Pumped hydropower methods deploy an higher reservoir for vitality storage. When wanted, gravity does the work of sending water right down to a producing station beneath. The reservoir could be replenished partly by pure rainfall and runoff. In any other case, it’s refilled by pumping water from a reservoir or river at a decrease elevation, during times when extra electrical energy is accessible (see extra pumped hydro background right here).
The primary pumped hydro facility within the US dates all the way in which again to 1929, when the 29-megawatt Rocky River station went on-line in Connecticut. The Rocky River undertaking additionally demonstrates how human-made pumped hydro reservoirs can do double responsibility as recreation areas.
New Twists On Outdated Power Storage Know-how
Pumped hydro has a few important benefits over lithium-ion and different battery formulation. A pumped hydro system can retailer vitality for much longer than a battery array, and it skirts the availability chain points that bedevil battery stakeholders. However, the Power Division lists solely 40 or so pumped storage initiatives within the US.
One apparent impediment to leap is the provision of appropriate geography and water sources. As well as, even the place the situations are proper for vitality storage, pumped hydro proposals can run up towards nature conservation and cultural heritage priorities.
Some innovators wish to develop the sector of accessible areas by repurposing deserted coal fields, underground rock formations, and different unconventional websites. The US Division of Power has additionally contributed to the vitality storage innovation pot, in an effort to double the capability of the nation’s present fleet of pumped hydro services. One instance is the GLIDES undertaking below the wing of Oak Ridge Nationwide Laboratory, aimed toward opening up alternatives to deploy small scale, modular pumped hydropower know-how.
75 Terawatt-Hours Of Pumped Hydro Power Storage Potential
Within the newest improvement, final week the Power Division’s Water Energy Applied sciences Workplace tapped the US clear tech startup Sperra for a $4 million grant that sends the pumped hydro vitality storage area off in a brand new path.
Sperra makes a speciality of fabricating 3-D printed constructions for subsea use, together with anchors for floating photo voltaic photo voltaic arrays, offshore floating wind generators, and wave vitality converters.
With the $4 million award, WPTO has tasked Sperra with making use of its know-how to design and deploy a subsea vitality storage gadget measuring 10 meters in diameter, to be positioned off the coast of California. The capability of the demonstration-scale unit is simply 500 kilowatts (or 600 kilowatt-hours), however the undertaking has already caught the attention of vitality stakeholders in Europe.
The German Ministry for Financial Affairs and Local weather Motion virtually doubled the WPTO award with a grant of $3.7 million USD (about €3.4M), aimed toward fleshing out the undertaking with pumping and offshore wind turbine components administered by the utilized analysis establishment Fraunhofer IEE and the underwater pump specialist Pleuger Industries GmbH. The entire of $7.7 million builds on earlier funding for the undertaking by means of the California Sustainable Power Entrepreneur Growth program and the New York State Power Analysis and Growth Authority.
In a press assertion saying the brand new awards, Sperra famous that the subsea vitality storage potential of the US is someplace round 75 terawatt-hours, greater than double the estimated potential for comparable onshore pumped storage methods. “SPSH [subsea pumped storage hydropower) with 3D-printed concrete will accelerate the energy transition, employing local labor and using immediately available materials,” enthused Sperra CEO and Founder Jason Cotrell.
Other partners in the project include the engineering and design firm WSP USA along with Purdue University and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Subsea Energy Storage: How Does It Work?
Sperra also notes that the California project builds on a longrunning subsea energy storage program of Fraunhofer called StEnSea, short for “Stored Energy in the Sea” (StEnSea)
As described by Pleuger, StEnSea began to take shape back in 2012 with the aim of adapting pumped storage for undersea deployment, leveraging the natural force of deep sea water pressure. In effect, the concrete structure fulfills the function of a lower reservoir, and water pressure pulls duty as the upper reservoir.
“The project utilises a unique approach to energy storage by placing hollow concrete spheres on the seabed at depths of 600 to 800 meters. When electricity demand is low, these spheres are emptied of water using PLEUGER’s specially designed submersible pumps to store potential energy,” Pleuger explains.
“During peak demand, water is allowed to flow back into the spheres, turning the pumps into turbines that generate electricity. This innovative method mirrors the functionality of traditional pumped storage hydropower but adapts it for the subsea environment, leveraging ocean pressure to store and release energy efficiently, Pleuger adds.
Pleuger notes that other initial targets for deployment include Norway, Portugal, Brazil, and Japan. In addition to subsea conditions, proximity to energy-hungry cities and seaports is another key element for site selection.
Many Roads To Subsea Energy Storage
If this is beginning to ring some bells, you may be thinking of a variation on subsea energy storage proposed by the Dutch firm Ocean Grazer, a startup that spun out of research at the University of Groningen back in 2014. The company’s “Ocean Battery” technology crossed the CleanTechnica radar in 2022 when it earned a Best of Innovation award at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, partly on account of a business model that leverages the locations of pre-approved offshore wind farms.
In a departure from the StEnSea approach, the Ocean Battery is a closed loop system that deploys two reservoirs. The lower reservoir is a rigid structure made of concrete, buried under the seabed. The upper reservoir is a flexible bladder that sits on top of the seabed.
“Potential energy will be stored in the form of water under pressure in the flexible bladder. When there is demand for power, water flows back from the flexible bladder to the low-pressure rigid reservoir. This would in turn drive several hydropower turbines to generate electricity,” explains the engineering and consultancy firm Stantec, which is helping Ocean Grazer bring its technology into the demonstration phase.
When electricity demand is low, water will be pumped from the buried reservoir back up the bladder. That closed-loop design could help Ocean Grazer avoid environmental concerns related to the open-ended use of seawater, though that remains to be seen. Keep an eye on the sprawling OranjeWind offshore wind project in the Netherlands, where plans include a trial of the company’s subsea energy storage solution.
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Image (cropped): A new US energy storage project will adapt the power of pumped storage hydro to subsea locations near offshore wind farms and energy-hungry coastal cities, leveraging 3-D printing and the natural force of water pressure (courtesy of Pleuger Industries).
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