Can flywheel energy storage be commercially viable?

This project explored flywheel energy storage R&D to reach commercial viability for utility scale energy storage. This required advancing the design, manufacturing capability, system cost, storage capacity, efficiency, reliability, safety, and system level operation of flywheel energy storage technology.

What is a flywheel & how does it work?

A flywheel is a “mechanical battery” that stores kinetic or moving energy. The basic concept of a spinning mass is well-established and is found in many mechanical systems such as automotive engines.

What are the advantages of flywheel technology?

One of the advantages of flywheel technology is the environmental tolerance; chemical batteries perform poorly outside of a limited temperature range which often necessitates axillary heating and cooling systems that reduce system power conversion efficiency.

Can flywheels save energy?

Installing 100 MW’s worth of flywheels used for distribution can reduce demand charges by $36 million and provide $8 million of energy savings a year since the FESS can eliminate mid-day peak and evening peaks of electricity use. Lithium battery technology can only do one peak reduction a day.

Are complete flywheel systems environmental compatible?

Demonstrating environmental compatibility of complete flywheel systems over a wide range of conditions from-20-40o Centigrade (Co) has been challenging, however notable progress has been made in the field and the lab. Components have been subjected to repeated cycles of hot and cold in an environmental chamber.

How many units can a flywheel control?

In the lab, Amber Kinetics’ flywheel management system demonstrated the capability to simultaneously control 32 units. The concept of operating multiple units on a common DC bus to share power and maintain SOC balance was demonstrated.