Flywheels for the Grid? Calling all engineers ...
The challenges posed to any electricity grid by ever more intermittent sources of power in the fleet are well known. The UK grid (and others) is not bereft of means to deal with this – at a cost, and specifically a cost from which the said intermittent sources are shielded. Indeed, advocates of renewable energy have largely been allowed to get away with putting their fingers in their ears and chanting LahLahLah on the subject for years.
There are two basic challenges, and grid has consistently expanded its toolkit to meet them, with plenty more ideas yet to be implemented. The ‘immediate’ issue is the occasional instantaneous fluctuation that threatens to upset the frequency of grid output: the longer-duration issue is the near-complete non-availability of wind and solar power on other occasions, including just those times when they are most needed. The ever-reducing amount of fossil-fuelled power available to the grid impairs its ability to respond to both challenges – but it still gets by[1]. The difficulties shouldn’t be overstated, even as the costs shouldn’t be understated.
Anyhow, it seems there’s a new game in town. One of the many ideas that have been floated over the years is the use of the good old-fashioned flywheel, and it seems the grid is going to give it a go. (It only addresses the ‘immediate’ issue, by the way: of technologies currently available, only gas-fired power can systematically address the dunkelflaute, now that we have no more coal-fired plant.)
My question is: do we have any physicists or power engineers out there who can comment? Some of these bright ideas turn out to be fads / daft / complete duds / ludicrously costly / several of the above[2], and personally I don’t have a view[3].
Over to t’readership.
ND
___________
[1] To an extent once considered theoretically infeasible. Ah, the perils of academic a priori reasoning …
[2] Using hydrogen for the longer-duration issue comes to mind
[3] I will, however, suggest that the putative savings the grid claims it will make using these flywheels – “£14.9bn between 2025 and 2035” - fail the basic do-we-believe-this? test by a long way. FFS!
Source: http://www.cityunslicker.co.uk/2024/10/flywheels-for-grid-calling-all-engineers.html
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