Sand pumping energy storage

What is a sand battery?

Finnish company Polar Night Energy is rapidly advancing the development of an industrial-scale Sand Battery. This sustainable energy storage solution is being constructed in Pornainen, southern Finland. This sand battery is a thermal energy storage system that utilizes a unique material: crushed soapstone.

Is sand a good option for energy storage?

TES also has another key advantage: the cost. Ma has calculated sand is the cheapest option for energy storage when compared to four rival technologies, including compressed air energy storage (CAES), pumped hydropower, and two types of batteries. CAES and pumped hydropower can only store energy for tens of hours.

How do sand heaters work?

Patented technology developed and prototyped at NREL reveals how heaters powered by renewable energy sources like wind and solar can raise the temperature of sand particles to the desired temperature. The sand is then deposited into a silo for storage and use later, either to generate electricity or for process heat in industrial applications.

Will heated sand be the answer to energy storage needs?

Anyone who has ever hot-footed it barefoot across the beach on a sunny day walks away with a greater understanding of just how much heat sand can retain. That ability is expected to play a vital role in the future, as technology involving heated sand becomes part of the answer to energy storage needs.

Why is sand a good source of energy?

“Sand is easy to access. It is environmentally friendly. It is stable, quite stable, in a wide temperature range. It is also low cost,” said Zhiwen Ma, a mechanical engineer in the Thermal Energy Systems Group at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Can sand be used to convert thermal energy to electricity?

Gifford, who already shares two patents with Ma on heat exchangers that convert stored thermal energy to electricity, said the use of sand or other particles to store thermal energy has another advantage over batteries.