Remaking an previous Swedish oil depot into an enormous underground ‘thermos’
By Johannes LEDEL
V�ster�s, Sweden (AFP) Oct 17, 2023
Work lights strung up alongside railings illuminate a dank cavern the place employees are making ready to rework a former oil depot right into a sizzling water “thermos” to warmth a Swedish city.
Initially dug out within the early Seventies, the three caverns with a mixed quantity of 300,000 cubic metres served as an oil storage till the location was deserted in 1985.
“We are actually changing it into an enormous thermos to retailer sizzling water in,” defined venture supervisor Rickard Svensson at energy and district heating firm Malarenergi within the metropolis of Vasteras.
The location will “retailer power, which we typically have an extra of, and … use that at occasions when there’s a scarcity,” he mentioned.
The caverns are near Malarenergi’s mixed warmth and energy plant, which provides electrical energy and particularly warmth through district heating, to Vasteras’ 130,000 or so inhabitants.
Lots of of metres of pipes are being put in together with large warmth exchangers, so extra warmth can warmth up the water saved inside after which be used to move warmth out when wanted.
In one other space, employees are becoming a whole lot of metal bars to make a thick bolstered concrete wall which can function a plug for the cavern.
As soon as the remodelling is accomplished, the whole cave system can be flooded and sealed for good.
The location had beforehand been emptied of oil however by no means correctly decontaminated.
“It was a wonderful match to re-use the oil storage and thereby make the most of an present useful resource,” Lisa Granstrom, technique supervisor at Malarenergi, advised AFP.
Whereas the plant is already in a position to retailer warmth in tanks above floor, they’re nowhere close to the scale of the brand new set up.
The amount is roughly the equal of 6,000 yard swimming pools and might present roughly 13 gigawatt hours (GWh), in keeping with Malarenergi.
– New power panorama –
Having the ability to retailer extra warmth for future use means the utility can scale back the necessity to convey reserve crops, a few of which depend on fossil fuels, on-line throughout chilly snaps.
“It can even imply that in some days we’ll be capable to cease manufacturing and simply depend on this cave, simply utilizing the warmth from right here,” vp Magnus Eriksson mentioned.
In a local weather the place temperatures can vary from minus 20 levels Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) in winter to plus 30 levels (86 F) in summer season, the “thermos” would be capable to present warmth for “as much as per week” on chilly days and “round two weeks” in summer season.
Whereas the thought of changing such caverns shouldn’t be novel, Malarenergi believes theirs is probably going the most important of its type.
Finnish utility Helen completed an identical venture in 2021 on the island of Mustikkamaa close to Helsinki with a capability to retailer 11.5 GWh of power.
One other, a lot bigger venture by Vantaa Vitality can be deliberate for building north of Helsinki, the place the deliberate facility of 1,000,000 cubic metres can be in a position retailer 90 GWh of thermal power utilizing superheated water, in keeping with the corporate.
Having the ability to retailer power is a recurring problem as nations search to maximise using the power that’s produced.
“For each electrical energy and warmth within the new power panorama, storing power is essential to regulate to peaks in manufacturing and demand,” Filip Johnsson, a professor of power methods on the Chalmers College of Expertise in Gothenburg, advised AFP.
Within the case of heating, producers can keep away from having to begin up redundancy crops throughout chilly snaps — which can depend on sources of power comparable to oil or coal.
In the meantime, there a distinct drawback with wind energy.
“When it’s extremely windy, you get quite a lot of wind energy that you could’t use. However when it isn’t so windy there can be a scarcity,” Johnsson mentioned.
He added that to make higher use of wind energy, extra power may be saved in batteries or as hydrogen produced from electrical energy.
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