Title
Flow Control Reliability and Optimisation

CoPED ID
14b61f14-a0c2-4259-8e7c-5b8b8e8d30a5

Status
Closed


Value
£25,492

Start Date
April 30, 2020

End Date
Sept. 29, 2020

Description

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A collaborative project between RheEnergise and the National Engineering Laboratory.

RheEnergise are developing a technological solution where a high-density-fluid (2.5x the density of water, about the density of concrete) can be used in pumped energy-storage applications, increasing both the power and energy densities of pumped energy-storage projects. The high-density-fluid means that sites can be found in locations with lower elevations (~9,500 in the UK alone) and that civil engineering work is also reduced by 2.5x. Projects are closed loop and can therefore be located in any climate, including deserts.

The project seeks to identify how the high-density-fluid affects the long-term operation and reliability of valves used in traditional pumped energy-storage applications. How maintenance costs can be minimised through understanding of fluid-flow characteristics through valves, in particular areas of static flow, (eg. trunnions).

The potential opportunity is for RheEnergise (and other UK businesses in the supply-chain) to capture a large percentage (perhaps 10%) of the total predicted global energy-storage and system-flexibility market, using a gravitational/ mechanical solution rather than solely relying on emerging battery technologies for future system-flexibility.

RheEnergise has identified the need to undertake this research work to address the huge potential market for system-flexibility:

Aurora-Energy-Research forecast a £6bn requirement, in the UK alone, for 13GW of new flexible assets (2030). Bloomberg-NEF predict a global energy-storage market worth \>$600bn (2050).

This projects goal is to enable a 10% increase in operational and cost efficiencies that in-turn enables RheEnergise to reach its goal of ~10% global market share, meaning ~$6bn of direct benefits to the UK economy, driven by a UK innovator company.

The Committee-on-Climate-Change, National-Grid, Energy-UK, IPPR and many other commentators all state that energy-storage is the enabler required to achieve a net-zero carbon energy-system.

Parts of the world have already demonstrated that renewable energy plus storage is cheaper than coal, nuclear and even gas. RWE has abandoned new coal development in Germany. Off-shore wind contracts are now <£40.00/MWh in UK and France. On-shore wind and solarPV in many locations globally is contacted ~£30.00/MWh.

RheEnergise's GIS analysis shows ~9,500 UK site opportunities, ~80,000 Europe (ex. Nordics), ~160,000 Africa.

At an average project size of 20MW/80MWh, only 350 UK sites would be required to provide 50% of Aurora's predicted 'need' for the UK's 2030 market. The numbers of wind-power and solarPV installations seen in the the last decade shows that the construction of 350 sites in a decade is entirely achievable.

RheenergiSE Limited LEAD_ORG
RheenergiSE Limited PARTICIPANT_ORG
Tuv Sud Limited PARTICIPANT_ORG

Subjects by relevance
  1. Markets (systems)
  2. Projects
  3. Marketing
  4. Forecasts
  5. Innovations
  6. Renewable energy sources

Extracted key phrases
  1. Flow Control Reliability
  2. Flow characteristic
  3. Static flow
  4. Storage project
  5. Energy density
  6. ~9,500 UK site opportunity
  7. Collaborative project
  8. Storage market worth \>$600bn
  9. Project goal
  10. Average project size
  11. Global energy
  12. UK innovator company
  13. UK business
  14. UK economy
  15. Carbon energy

Related Pages

UKRI project entry

UK Project Locations