A gravity-fed energy storage system, based on raising and lowering weights, could prove a cheaper option than lithium-ion batteries, according to researchers at Imperial College, London. The new storage system, being developed by UK-based Gravitricity, works by suspending a weight of up to 2,000 tonnes in a mine shaft. The weight is raised to absorb and store power, then lowered to generate energy. Gravitricity commissioned an independent researcher to work out the system's frequency response cost over 25-years. He found it to be $141 per kW, compared to $312 for lithium-ion batteries and $154 for flywheels.
A gravity-fed energy storage system, based on raising and lowering weights, could prove a cheaper option than lithium-ion batteries, according to researchers at Imperial College, London. The new storage system, being developed by UK-based Gravitricity, works by suspending a weight of up to 2,000 tonnes in a mine shaft. The weight is raised to absorb and store power, then lowered to generate energy. Gravitricity commissioned an independent researcher to work out the system's frequency response cost over 25-years. He found it to be $141 per kW, compared to $154 for lithium-ion batteries and $312 for flywheels.