The ‘Elephant in the Room’ is an English idiom for a problem that nobody wants to discuss. The phrase originated in a book that Russian fabulist Ivan Andreyevich Krylov wrote in 1814. This tells of a man who notices all kinds of tiny things in a museum. However, he fails to notice a large elephant standing quietly nearby. The elephant in the UK power utility room is the grid will collapse if everyone charges their electric cars simultaneously. Today we report some innovative technology we discovered.
The Electric Elephant Could Vanish Through Innovative Technology
The Engineer advises that a UK company has won a bid to install innovative technology at substations to remove the elephant problem.
UK investment managers, Downing LLP, have funded a pilot project to install 50-megawatt storage batteries at 49 substations over 5 years.
The complete battery installation costing £1.6 / $2.3 billion will supply 20-megawatts per unit directly into the grid. Total capacity will equal two thirds of Hinkley C nuclear power plant when complete. The grid storage batteries will have sufficient density to supply 235,000 homes for a day if this becomes priority instead.
More Innovative Technology from the Giant Batteries at Substations
Each of the 49 decentralized energy storage batteries will be able to support 100 rapid chargers rated at 150 kilowatt each. “This means that we can operate at a scale that we couldn’t dream about previously. Compared to if we were going in at the 11,000 volt network on the distribution side,” a company representative explains.
“It also means we can avoid some of the costs that we would have to occur if we were a lot further down the distribution system, he adds.” There are significant load-loss savings with this innovative technology. Because the auxiliary supply feeds directly into the grid, as opposed to via transmission lines from some distance away.
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Preview Image: Can You See me Apologies Denver Zoo
