The main requirement of gravity batteries is weight, and that can come cheap. “This is why I think gravity-based storage can play a huge role, if someone can find a way to copy the pumped hydro concept in a more distributable way,” Schmidt says.
Energy Vault
Switzerland’s Energy Vault may be furthest down the track. In March 2022, with US-based Atlas Renewable Energy and a $50 million stake from South Korean smelter Korea Zinc, Energy Vault began a 25 MW/100 MWh project near Shanghai.
The initial “EVx” system sought to raise 30-ton blocks using a six-arm crane. Energy Vault Chief Commercial Officer Marco Terruzzin tells pv magazine the system evolved to look more like a multi-story car park, with 35-ton blocks instead of cars, each moving systematically to store and release energy.
Energy Vault and Mexican cement business Cemex developed blocks which can use local materials including soil, recycled coal ash, waste mine tailings, or dead wind turbine blades.
Might be nibbling on this one again. This is one I’ve traded 3 or 4 times, even amassing some free shares. But I sold those at profit during a recent downturn until I could find more stories on the project in China . . . which is going so well China has ordered more of the $NRGV systems according to this article.
I wonder how this scales? I wonder about manpower needed - seems to me just a few elevator mechanics with Electrical chops would be able to keep their eye on a whole elevated parking lot type building with big cranes on the roof taking excess power to raise 35-ton blocks, which later work as a hybrid type gravity run dynamo which produces electricity when the sun isn’t up.
Setting up for a breakout on that weekly chart, which would also mean a beautiful downtrend reversal. Surprised to see they are barely up for the year. I expect more as they continue to sign on new countries for the evolutionary method for offloading daytime generated electricity at night.
