Gravitricity is a start-up R&D company developing new technology for the storage of
electrical energy from the national grid and for producing electricity on demand at short
notice from storage.
The basic principle is to use a large mass, of hundreds or even thousands of tons, which can
be lowered down a vertical shaft (possibly a former mine-shaft) and in so doing will drive a
motor-generator unit to produce electricity into the grid. Then at times when electricity is
plentiful and low in cost it will use this power to raise the weight back to the top of the shaft
ready for the next time there is a demand for power.
Gravitricity has recently made a patent application GB1111535.9 which focusses on how the
heavy weight may be raised and lowered and how to control its movement and prevent it from
swinging and damaging the shaft through using tightly tensioned guide wires stretched
between the base of the shaft and the surface. Because many disused mine shafts are flooded
and it would not be economical to pump out the water, the patent covers techniques for
lowering the weight into a flooded shaft. It also covers how the essential guide wires may be
installed from the surface without any need to send personnel down the shaft.
This proposal is to cover work needed to confirm the market for this technology (to help
stabilise grids with a high proportion of variable input such as wind generated electricity) and
to assess the economics of the proposed technology. The main objective will be to develop a
detail Business Plan to enable the technology to be financed and taken forward.