The world’s first grid-scale pumped heat storage system is now up and running at Newcastle University. The ground breaking technology could offer a low cost method of storing large volumes of excess renewable electricity. The system consists of two containers – a cold store and a hot store – filled with gravel and an inert gas. They are connected via a reversible heat pump engine. When surplus energy needs to be stored, gas is withdrawn from the cold store and compressed using an electrically powered pump thereby raising its temperature. To recover the stored energy the process is reversed.
Utility Week 8th Jan 2019 read more »
Solar and storage technologies would possess a “mutually beneficial interaction” in the Capacity Market (CM) should renewables be introduced into the mechanism, National Grid has said. However solar PV would stand to have an almost negligible role within the mechanism, and any solar projects seeking a CM contract would have to do so with a de-rating factor of between 1 and 2%. The findings were unveiled within a consultation document that was unveiled by the Electricity System Operator yesterday, the starting block of a piece of work which could culminate in renewables being able to participate in CM auctions in the future.
Solar Power Portal 8th Jan 2019 read more »