One of the deepest mines in Europe is being converted into a battery

Mine Behasalmi in Finland be with 1400 meters underground One of the deepest and it was also one of the oldest still operating until recently Underground mines in Europe. It is known primarily for its extraction copper And Zinc.

In the August 2022 Underground ore mining has ended. Now the expression should be as Huge battery Using electricity from renewable energies. The Scottish company wants to do just that gravity. According to the Scottish Daily newspaper Herald. Company from Edinburgh It has an energy storage system called GraviStore developed.

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Storage thanks to gravity

the principle Gravity storage is relatively simple: if there's a surplus of electricity, you can use it to lift and stabilize heavy weights. This means that energy is stored.

If you want to access energy again, let go of the weights Controlled ratiosn. This will Generators Turn them on, which in turn generates electricity.

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The principle allows electricity to be saved when needed Very fast It is retrieved. Gravity is talking about Less than a second. If you need energy quickly, you can simply lower the weights very quickly, and if you only need a manageable amount, you can lower them slowly.

Depth 530 metres

In the mine it's supposed to be in one 530 metres A prototype of gravity technology is being created in an additional deep shaft. The system must reach maximum 2 megawatts of power can bring. It will be connected to the local electricity grid to compensate for peak consumption in the Finnish grid.

Martin Wright“This project will demonstrate how our technology can provide a reliable, long-lasting storage solution,” Gravitricity CEO said. At the same time, new economic drivers should flow into the region that has to deal with the mine's closure.

Empty mines as ideal infrastructure

The big advantage of abandoned mines for such projects is that they already contain the necessary core mines infrastructure – Underground wells, elevators, and electricity grid connection. The deeper the system and the wider the shafts used to enter the mine, the greater the storage capacity.

This method of storing energy has something else feature: Unlike electricity storage in traditional batteries, sand storage medium does not cause losses due to self-discharge over longer periods of time.

Possibility of storing 70 terawatt hours

In this way, scientists estimate the global electricity storage potential 7 to 70 TWh. For comparison: production on solar energy Throughout the European Union in the warm months of last year it is expected to be slightly less than 100 terawatt hours estimated.

Most factories could be in countries with a particularly large number of abandoned mines, e.g China, India, Russia Or that United States of America arise. the Is he[called[دعا In a research paper on “Underground Gravitational Energy Storage” (UGES) by Researchers from International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Lower Austria Laxenburgwhich will be released in early 2023.

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