What is the swiss gravity energy storage project

What is gravity-based energy storage?

One such emerging technology is gravity-based energy storage, an idea that leverages the power of gravity to store and release electricity. While lithium-ion batteries have become the go-to solution for energy storage, they come with limitations.

Do all energy storage facilities rely on gravity?

To be sure, nearly all the world's currently operational energy-storage facilities, which can generate a total of 174 gigawatts, rely on gravity. Pumped hydro storage, where water is pumped to a higher elevation and then run back through a turbine to generate electricity, has long dominated the energy-storage landscape.

What is gravity energy storage (GESS)?

The Switzerland and California-based company announced that it is entering the first phases of commissioning for its first commercial-scale gravity energy storage system (GESS). Slated to be fully grid-interconnected in Q4 2023, the gravity tower will mark the world’s first non-pumped hydro gravity-based storage facility.

What is gravity & how does it work?

Gravitricity is targeting a different part of the energy market from Energy Vault: providing short bursts of electricity at crucial times to keep expensive energy infrastructure from being damaged. Power grids are designed to operate at a certain frequency; European grids run at 50 hertz while in the US it’s 60 hertz.

Are gravity-based energy storage systems a viable alternative to traditional batteries?

These batteries have a finite number of charge and discharge cycles, typically lasting only a few years before capacity degradation sets in. Additionally, the production and disposal of lithium-ion batteries raise environmental concerns. Gravity-based energy storage systems offer a compelling alternative to traditional battery technology.

Can gravity keep costs down?

Edinburgh-based energy storage startup Gravitricity has found a novel way to keep the costs of gravity storage down: dropping its weights down disused mineshafts, rather than building towers.