In the race to develop energy storage technologies that will expand the use of renewable energy, an Italian startup is trying to develop a unique technology for storing electricity, intended to be implemented in facilities located in the depths of the sea.
The Italian technology company Sizable Energy is developing an innovative solution for energy storage in facilities located in the depths of the sea.
The company, led by nuclear engineer Manuele Aufiero, recently completed a seed funding round of eight million dollars to finance a first demonstration project.
The company reports that it “successfully tested a prototype of the model and successfully conducted wave resistance tests at a marine research institute in the Netherlands,” and that it will use the funding to build a demonstration facility near the Italian coast.
Pumping Ocean Water and Releasing Electricity
This is a development of an existing technology for storing energy using water, based on gravity (Pumped Hydro Energy Storage) the innovation is the underwater storage.
The company says this technology addresses two of the main challenges in the field of clean energy: upgrading the old pumped storage technology and using the sea as a source of clean energy.
Gravity Energy Storage is a method of storing electricity by lifting a heavy mass.
When there is excess electricity in the grid (for example, from solar production during sunny hours), the system uses it to lift masses (for example, water or stones) to a height, and the energy is stored through the gravitational force acting on the lifted mass.
When electricity is needed (for example in the evening), the system releases the stored mass.
During the fall of the mass, it rotates turbines or generators connected to it, converting the potential energy back into electricity.
The most well-known example is pumped hydro storage, where lifting the mass is pumping water. More innovative mass storage developments use, for example, robotic cranes to lift bricks.
Sizable Energy’s technology is designed to pump ocean water, which is pushed up and down through a vertical pipe fixed to the seabed.
Inflatable membranes will create reservoirs on the seabed and on the water surface.
The excess energy will be used to pump the liquid upward, and its release will generate electricity available for the grid.
Sizable Energy does not try to harness wave energy directly, but uses the sea as an operational area. Bruce Leek, partner at Playground Global, which led the funding round of the Italian company, says: “There is a lot of depth in the ocean it is not crowded.”
The company is considering the possibility of building its facilities alongside offshore wind farms to share electricity cables and infrastructure.
The company claims that the potential of this solution is relatively low in cost, making it competitive in the long-term storage field compared to other storage technologies, such as lithium-ion batteries, iron-air batteries, storage using lifted bricks, and more.
Sizable Energy states that their technology will cost less than 20 euros per kilowatt-hour.
Aufiero notes that “the main challenge is to keep the system simple and resistant to the hazards of the sea without increasing production costs.”
Energy storage, including electricity storage, is a key way to improve and increase the use of renewable energy, which is only available part of the time, unlike fossil fuels that are always available. Therefore, there are many companies developing storage technologies, and some are already operational.
In the energy storage market, many companies operate, including Doral, Enlight, Tralight, Brenmiller Energy, and others.
A hydroelectric plant operates in one region using pumped storage a similar project is planned elsewhere.