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.
