A vault is a place where we can store valuable things safe and sound. Green energy is particularly precious because it is still in short supply. Batteries are virtual vaults in that sense because they are energy stores. However, Swiss disruptive start-up Energy Vault is planning energy storage on a gigantic scale.
How Does Energy Storage Work in a Gigantic Vault?
CNN Business described this method by way of an analogy on March 14, 2022. A 70-meter-high steel tower is rising in the Swiss municipality Arbedo-Castione not far from the Italian border. CNN describes this tower as a ‘giant mechanical energy storage system’. That’s because it relies on gravity and 35-ton interlocking blocks to store and release energy.
A crane on the tower uses surplus power on the grid to lift these blocks, and store them high up. Then it lowers them down when grid supply is constrained, generating electricity as it does. Does this sound farfetched and elaborate, we wondered? Then we decided it is a simpler solution than a giant hydro electric dam.
We Can’t Rely on Renewables without Energy Storage
We can operate a gas, oil, coal, or nuclear power station continuously for a long time. That’s because it is a contained system we can control. However, we can’t say the same for wind, sun and tide because nature has a mind of its own.
Therefore, we need batteries of one or other kind to make renewable energy output predictable. CNN does not mention the capacity of the Arbedo-Castione tower, because this would depend on the height. Although we imagine this could be significant to offset the cost of the project.
We should welcome this idea with open minds, because we need to think laterally to combat global warming soon. We don’t really have a choice because our backs are towards the wall already. Which is better, large power stations with millions of miles of pylons, or a series of giant towers in each town?
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