A UK company plans to build a full-scale energy storage project in a former mine shaft in mainland Europe.

And the initiative in the Czech Republic has moved a step closer after securing support led by the European Investment Bank.

The scheme is being led by Gravitricity and involves a novel form of storage: it uses heavy weights – totalling up to 12,000 tonnes – suspended in a deep shaft by cables attached to winches.

When there is excess electricity, for example on a windy day, the weight is winched to the top of the shaft ready to generate power.

This weight can then be released when required – in less than a second – and the winches become generators, producing either a large burst of electricity quickly, or releasing it more slowly depending on what is needed.

Gravitricity claims that, unlike batteries, the system can operate for decades without any reduction in performance.

In October last year, Gravitricity engineers visited the recently-mothballed Staříč mine in the Moravian Silesian region to evaluate its potential as a first of a kind full-scale gravity energy store.

Now the EIB has committed 120 days of consultancy time to advance the project as well as independently validating Gravitricity’s proposals.

This project will be delivered through the European Commission’s Project Development Assistance scheme.

These studies will follow analysis by Czech specialists Nano Energies which assessed the project’s revenue generation potential, based on a single-weight design.

Energy solutions provider Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has announced that it has completed implementation of the 8MW offshore wind turbine prototype at the Korea Wind Power Demonstration Center, which is located in Baeksu, Yeonggwang of South Jeolla Province.

The 8MW offshore wind turbine was developed as a collaborative project led by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) and is touted as Korea’s largest wind turbine to date.

The wind turbine is made up of a 100-metre long blade and a tower that stands 130 metres high. It stands 232.5 metres high in total, making it nearly as tall as the N Seoul Tower which stands 236.7 meters tall.

According to Doosan, the turbine has the capacity to produce 8MW of power where winds blow at a speed of 11m/s and shows a utilisation rate of 30% or higher even when the average wind speed is 6.5m/s.

Doosan applied the gearless direct drive-type generator to the turbine, which provides higher structural stability and energy efficiency, owing to the simplified power transmission system, and lower maintenance costs.

In preparation for a growing number of wind turbine orders, Doosan Heavy has built a second wind turbine shop at its Changwon headquarters and began securing additional manpower last year.

The next steps for the 8MW wind turbine will be for Doosan to initiate the commissioning process, after which international certification for the wind turbine will be obtained and final preparations for commercialization will be completed in June.

Swedish clean energy company CorpPower has announced that it will be testing the performance and survivability of its wave energy converter ahead of a planned rollout in the ocean in Portugal.

The testing will include CorPower’s C4 wave energy converter being exposed to various sea states including severe storm conditions for a period of two weeks in Sweden.

The testing will be conducted at CorPower’s ABB-accreditated, 45-tonne test rig in Stockholm.

The demonstration site at the company’s headquarters is capable of simulating ocean wave conditions anywhere in the world, according to CorPower.

The project will also include testing the ability of the company’s WaveSpring technology to enhance motion amplitude and energy generation.

The focus of the test is on the ability of the wave energy converter to withstand high thermal stress and its durability.

H2-Industries, a clean energy company that has developed a technology to produce green hydrogen using waste, has secured approval to construct a production facility in Egypt.

General Authority for Suez Canal Economic Zone has granted H2-Industries permission to construct a 1GW hydrogen production hub at East Port-Said.

H2-Industries will use waste such as plastic, agricultural waste and sewage sludge to produce green hydrogen, a solution the firm claims is more cost-effective to produce green and grey hydrogen.

The hydrogen plant will be fed with 4 million tons of organic waste and non-recyclable plastic per year secured at the Mediterranean entrance to the Suez canal.

The facility will produce 300,000 tons of green hydrogen per year at half the levelized cost of current green hydrogen production technologies, according to the statement.

The green hydrogen will be converted into a carrier fluid referred to as LOHC for transportation to meet local, regional and international demand for hydrogen.

H2-Industries claims its production process includes the capturing of greenhouse gas emissions, which is then commercialised to ensure environmental sustainability whilst expanding the company’s revenue streams.

The company claims its facility in Egypt will help encourage the circular economy model whilst diversifying the country’s energy mix for sustainability, energy decarbonisation, energy security and climate mitigation.

Finnish energy technology firm Valmet has signed a contract of between €20 million ($22.5 million) and €30 million ($33.8 million) for the delivery of a waste-to-energy plant in Vietnam.

The contract has been signed with waste treatment company Thang Long Energy Environment for the firm’s greenfield waste-to-energy plant in Bac Ninh province.

Valmet will provide its circulating fluidised bed boiler for the project. The boiler will be used to burn waste to produce steam that will power a turbine generator. This is the first time Valmet is supplying this type of boiler in Asia.

The waste-to-energy plant is expected to generate 10 MW of electricity which will be integrated into the Vietnamese main grid for reliability.

The project is expected to be operational by the end of 2023 and forms efforts by Thailand to invest in sustainable energy production.

In addition, Valmet’s Flue Gas Cleaning System will also be integrated to ensure the cleanliness of the turbines and ensure the plant abides by environmental sustainability stipulations.

Valmet’s DNA Distributed Control System will be used to optimise the control of the plant for improved efficiency.

TTCL Vietnam Corporation will be responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction of the plant.