Enel has signed a two-year agreement with Amber Kinetics, a US start-up born from an initiative of some professors and researchers at the Californian University of Berkeley, with the aim of evaluating the innovative flywheel storage technology, a system electromechanical consisting of a large rotating mass capable of accumulating energy. The Italian electricity group communicates it with a note that we report here.
“With this agreement, Enel expands its search for innovative solutions in the promising energy storage sector. For Enel, this is a step forward towards the integration of energy storage at all levels of the electricity value chain and a clear example of the Open Innovation approach which seeks to open the Group up to new technologies and partnerships”, he said. stated Enrico Viale, head of Enel's Global Thermal Generation division. “With the growing demand for energy from the grid, it becomes increasingly crucial to find balancing solutions that respond to peak demand. Amber Kinetics' flywheel technology addresses this problem by offering an interesting alternative to traditional batteries, which can represent for Enel a flexible solution to energy demand peaks suitable for application to the company's diversified generation mix”.
Under the agreement, Enel will study and test the technology to identify large-scale commercial applications that integrate the technology into the grid. At the end of the three-month test phase on two synchronized units (both with a nominal power of 8 kW for a storage capacity of 32 kWh) in one of the Amber Kinetics test sites in California, Enel will evaluate the possibility of using the 40 kW/160 kWh model of the technology for a pilot project in one of its thermal power plants.
Here the link to the explanatory video on the new accumulation system: http://amberkinetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/HowFlywheelWorksSep2016_v4.mp4
The 5.000 lb (approximately 2.267 kg) steel flywheel system charges by converting electrical energy from the power plant it is paired with or from the electrical grid into the kinetic energy of the moving flywheel, which has charge periods that can last up to four hours. During peak demand phases, the system starts up a generator – automatically or through a control system – which transforms the kinetic energy into electricity which is then fed into the grid.
The Amber Kinetics flywheel unit maintains its full 32 kWh storage capacity over its 30-year life expectancy, a clear advantage over traditional batteries that gradually lose storage capacity over time. The system developed by Amber Kinetics increases the efficiency of this technology by inserting the flywheel in an almost perfect vacuum context; this environment, with the help of magnets and special bearings, allows the disc to spin without friction up to 10.000 rpm. The disk can also compensate for minor losses in speed by drawing a small amount of energy – equivalent to that needed to power a light bulb – from the grid. Hundreds of megawatt hours can be accumulated by combining flywheels into groups, making the application attractive for all types of energy sources, from renewable to traditional. Furthermore, the flywheel can be placed in an underground housing, thus making it adaptable to different environments.
