Concrete energy storage tower switzerland

Can you store green energy in giant concrete blocks?

Finding green energy when the winds are calm and the skies are cloudy has been a challenge. Storing it in giant concrete blocks could be the answer. The Commercial Demonstration Unit lifts blocks weighing 35 tons each. Photograph: Giovanni Frondoni In a Swiss valley, an unusual multi-armed crane lifts two 35-ton concrete blocks high into the air.

What is energy storage and how does it work?

The process is similar to a pumped-storage hydropower plant (HPP), with water substituted with concrete blocks and gravity doing the rest. The energy storage technology has been invented by a Swiss-based startup called Energy Vault, which recently received a USD 110 million investment from Softbank Group. Why storage?

Where is a battery made out of concrete?

A couple of hours south of Zürich, Switzerland, in the Canton of Ticino, you’ll find a battery made out of concrete blocks. Energy Vault, the Swiss clean energy firm that built it, is about to go public via a SPAC merger with Novus Capital Corporation II. The sun doesn’t always shine, nor does the wind always blow.

How would a tower storage system work?

The storage system would work by stacking thousands of blocks in concentric rings around a central tower, which would require millimeter-precise placement of the blocks and the ability to compensate for wind and the pendulum effect caused by a heavy weight swinging at the end of a cable.

How tall is the Eiffel Tower in Switzerland?

Although the tower is 75 meters tall, it is easily dwarfed by the forested flanks of southern Switzerland’s Lepontine Alps, which rise from the valley floor in all directions. Thirty meters. Thirty-five. Forty. The concrete blocks are slowly hoisted upwards by motors powered with electricity from the Swiss power grid.

How much do energy storage systems cost?

Existing energy storage systems are currently very costly. Take Tesla’s 100MW/129MWh battery technology in Australia, for example, which cost the company around $66m to produce.