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Europe’s deepest mine to become giant gravity battery (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

94 comments fedilink hide all child comments

An abandoned mine in Finland is set to be transformed into a giant battery to store renewable energy during periods of excess production.

The Pyhäsalmi Mine, roughly 450 kilometres north of Helsinki, is Europe’s deepest zinc and copper mine and holds the potential to store up to 2 MW of energy within its 1,400-metre-deep shafts.

The disused mine will be fitted with a gravity battery, which uses excess energy from renewable sources like solar and wind in order to lift a heavy weight. During periods of low production, the weight is released and used to power a turbine as it drops.

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[–] [email protected] -2 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Because it's super inefficient

[–] [email protected] 15 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Not if the energy would go to waste. This is a mechanical battery to store surplus power generation from things like wind and solar.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

That’s the whole point of grid energy storage. Even if there are losses, it’s acceptable considering that otherwise you would need to burn fossil fuels in a peaker plant to keep the grid balanced. You aren’t supposed to recharge a battery like this with fossil fuels.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

It wouldn't go to waste if we were to use "gravity batteries" that have existed for centuries: hydropower

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Is it more or less efficient than a derelict mine and an unstored energy surplus?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

No it's not.