Green Gravity and underground mining contractor RUC have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the commercialization of gravitational energy storage systems. The partnership combines RUC’s expertise in shaft sinking and mineshaft hoisting operations with Green Gravity’s energy storage technology, aiming to accelerate the deployment of gravitational energy storage systems in mineshafts. The collaboration will involve cooperation on technical opportunities, data insights, and commercial arrangements.
Green Gravity’s concept involves utilizing excess renewable energy to lift heavy steel coils to the top of a mine shaft during the day. When energy is required, such as during peak evening hours, the company lowers these weights, harnessing the generated kinetic energy to spin a regenerative electrical motor.
This technology, similar to pumped hydro, utilizes gravity to generate power. While it has not been tested on a large scale yet, Green Gravity has recently constructed a Gravity Lab in an unused Bluescope building in Port Kembla NSW that will house a 12m tall prototype.
According to Mark Swinnerton, Founder and CEO of Green Gravity, partnering with RUC, an organization with extensive mineshaft experience, will integrate industry knowledge into the company’s renewable energy technology and contribute to the detailed design and improvement of Green Gravity’s energy storage system, particularly its vertical transit system and mine winder design.
By reusing mining assets, Green Gravity’s technology offers a cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution for long-duration storage of renewable energy, using gravity as the fuel instead of water, land, or chemicals, and conventional mechanical components.
Many years of mining have left nearly 100,000 legacy mine sites in Australia which can be repurposed for this technology, as only three per cent of disused mines have been rehabilitated or relinquished.
Source: PRESS RELEASE
Image Source (Screenshot): Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety