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THE NEED FOR ENERGY STORAGE

We need a secure, reliable electricity supply 24 hours a day. We also need to make more use of renewable energy resources, such as solar and wind, to reduce our reliance on non-renewable fossil fuels such as oil and gas. But, it’s not so easy to just switch over to using solar and wind for all our energy needs. The clouds pass the sun and the wind gusts fast and slow. This means that solar power and wind power are not always available when needed.

The solution to this problem lies in energy storage. By storing the energy generated from solar and wind power in reliable, powerful batteries, we can have a power supply that is available 24/7: – without costing the Earth.

THE ALTERNATIVE TO BATTERIES

Flywheels are not as adversely affected by temperature changes, can operate at a much wider temperature range, and are not subject to many of the common failures of chemical rechargeable batteries. They are also less potentially damaging to the environment, being largely made of inert or benign materials. Another advantage of flywheels is that by a simple measurement of the rotation speed it is possible to know the exact amount of energy stored.

Unlike most batteries which only operate for a finite period (for example roughly 36 months in the case of lithium ion polymer batteries), a flywheel potentially has an indefinite working lifespan. Some flywheel systems have been continuously working for more than two hundred years. Working examples of ancient flywheels used mainly in milling and pottery can be found in many locations in Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Most modern flywheels are typically sealed devices that need minimal maintenance throughout their service lives. Magnetic bearing flywheels in vacuum enclosures do not need any bearing maintenance and are therefore superior to batteries both in terms of total lifetime and energy storage capacity.