The Anonymous Widower

Explaining Gravitricity

Gravitricity is a simple way to store excess electricity, that is perhaps being produced by intermittent renewable resources like wind or solar power.

This is their explanatory video.

It may look simple, but how much energy can a typical system store.

The video says that depths can be between 150 and 1,500 metres and that the weight can be up to 5,000 tonnes.

• A quick calculation using Omni’s Potential Energy Calculator with 500 metres and 500 tonnes gives 681 kWh.
• But build a system in a four kilometre deep gold mine with 5000 tonnes and you could store 54.5 MWh.
• Perhaps, that is extreme, but you can understand why the South Africans are interested in the technology.
• Perhaps, more practically, we have some coal mines in the UK, where the winding shafts are around 800 metres, which with a 1000 tonnes would store 2.2 MWh.

These are practical amounts of power.

Gravitricity And South Africa

This article on ESI Africa is entitled Gravitricity Sets Sights On South Africa To Test Green Energy Tech.

This is the introductory paragraph.

Disused mine shafts in South Africa have been identified as an ideal location to test UK-based energy start-up Gravitricity’s green energy technology.

Remember that mine depths in South Africa are often measured in kilometres rather than metres.

June 8, 2020 - Posted by AnonW | Energy Storage | Gravitricity, Innovation