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Flywheel energy storage

Thursday, September 12, 2013 14:09

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Beacon Power
has updated the old idea of short-term energy storage via flywheels:-

Flywheel energy
storage works by accelerating a cylindrical assembly called a rotor (flywheel)
to a very high speed and maintaining the energy in the system as rotational
energy. The energy is converted back by slowing down the flywheel. The flywheel
system itself is a kinetic, or mechanical battery, spinning at very high speeds
to store energy that is instantly available when needed.

The primary use at the moment appears to be frequency
regulation for electricity generation, a well-known problem with wind and
solar, especially solar. As Beacon Power says:-

To ensure a functional
and reliable grid, the Independent System Operators (ISOs) that operate the
various regional grids must maintain their electric frequency very close to 60
hertz (Hz), or cycles per second (50 Hz in Europe and elsewhere). When the
supply of electricity exactly matches the demand (or “load”), grid
frequency is held at a stable level. Grid operators, therefore, seek to
continuously balance electricity supply with load to maintain the proper
frequency. They do this by directing about one percent of total generation
capacity to increase or decrease its power output in response to frequency
deviations.

Not all generators can
operate reliably in such a variable way. Changing power output causes greater
wear and tear on equipment, and fossil generators that perform frequency
regulation incur higher operating costs due to increased fuel consumption and
maintenance costs. They also suffer a
significant loss in “heat rate” efficiency and produce greater
quantities of CO2 and other unwanted emissions when throttling up and down to
perform frequency regulation services (my emphasis).

Flywheel storage technology must add substantial frequency regulation costs
to wind and solar. In the case of wind in the UK, these are costs which its proponents have so far
succeeded in spreading around elsewhere.

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Source: http://theylaughedatnoah.blogspot.com/2013/09/flywheel-energy-storage.html

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