r/Thatsactuallyverycool • u/BitschWack Wonder Apprentice • Aug 09 '23

video China commissions the world's first commercial gravity battery.

*"The principle of operation of a gravitational battery is much simpler than lithium-ion batteries. Basically, it's just a system of cranes that raise and lower concrete blocks.

The design include hoists that lift 30-ton composite blocks using an electric motor. The raised blocks are stacked on top of each other, which creates potential energy. At the moment when the consumer needs energy, the blocks fall under the influence of gravity, and the energy released in this process is collected and sent to where it required. The plant is capable of storing up to 100 MWh of energy and delivering 25 MW of power."*

993 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

124 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/BitschWack Wonder Apprentice Aug 09 '23

This is true. I replied to some comments mentioning that this is being developed in Europe too, but people just downvote. It's so silly.

2

u/i-hoatzin Aug 09 '23

Maybe if you share some links about it people didn't downvote you. I'd like to read about some of the projects you've mentioned but you've only appealed to the trust me bro, and that's a little annoying, you know? In other words, we're on reddit and one of the things we're supposed to do here is share documented content that we've found on the internet.

2

u/BitschWack Wonder Apprentice Aug 10 '23 edited Aug 10 '23

I've tried, but apparently the BBC and WEF websites are not approved domains on this sub.

Edit: an excerpt from Wikipedia; Energy Vault, a Swiss company founded in 2017, stores electricity using a crane that raises and lowers blocks of concrete.

Gravitricity, founded in 2011 by Peter Fraenkel, built a 15-meter 250-kilowatt gravity battery prototype near Edinburgh, Scotland that started trial operations and grid-connection in April 2021.

From the BBC; Gravitricity, an Edinburgh-based green engineering start-up, is working to make this a reality. In April last year, the group successfully trialled its first gravity battery prototype: a 15m (49ft) steel tower suspending a 50 tonne iron weight. Inch-by-inch, electric motors hoisted the massive metal box skyward before gradually releasing it back to earth, powering a series of electric generators with the downward drag.

And so, with enough funding, a subterranean prototype (most likely located in the Czech Republic) should be functioning by 2024. First, though, a series of challenges must be overcome.

In a valley in southern Switzerland, the striking steel and concrete prototype from Energy Vault, another leader in the gravity battery space, stands more than 20 stories tall.

Hope this is useful.