Gravitricity Ltd, Development of Hybrid Mechanical and Compressed Air Energy Storage System

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This is a proposal to develop a novel technology based on a combination of using gravity and compressed airfor grid-connected electrical energy storage at a scale from 100kW to 50MW peak power and from 250kWh to10MWh energy per cycle. This will fill a technology gap between small-scale relatively short-life storage deviceslike flywheels and batteries, and inherently large scale systems like pumped storage. It also has majoradvantages including rapid response (<2s to full power) and high energy efficiency (>90% round-trip efficiency)with no cyclic deterioration (performance is not affected by number of storage cycles or by part-loading).The project will include engineering work to develop all aspects of the technology (including a methodology tovertically drill holes up to a km deep and 5m in diameter) alongside parallel commercial work to ensure thetechnical offering will suit the emerging demand for energy storage on power grids. The project will output fullycosted plans for a proof-of-concept prototype deployment to be deployed within 3-5 years.