A Scottish energy storage company has claimed the technology it has created could turn a former coal mine in the Czech Republic into “the first full-scale gravity energy store in Europe”.
Gravitricity said it plans to build a working demonstrator at the former Darkov deep mine. The Edinburgh firm has signed a memorandum of understanding with Diamo, the Czech state enterprise tasked with mitigating uranium ore and coal mining in the republic.
The link-up will see the partners work together to secure European Union funds in a move it is claimed could be a “pathfinder” for projects Europe-wide.
It comes after the Scottish firm last month said it plans to raise £40 million to fund the construction of green energy storage facilities over the next five years.
The Czech scheme, which comes as a new project is also set for northern England, moved a step closer with the formal agreement at a ceremony at the British Embassy in Prague, when the two parties “committed to work in tandem” to chase backing.
READ MORE: Gravitricity launches £40m funding drive for green energy storage
It would create a facility that holds enough energy to power more than 16,000 homes. Gravitricity also signed a memorandum with VSB Technical University of Ostrava, whose specialist mining expertise will support the introduction of the Scottish firm’s technology into the existing mine.
The Darkov mine in the Moravian-Silesian region of the Czech Republic, near the city of Karviná, saw efforts to access thick seams of coal more than 700 metres below the surface start in 1972, and at its peak it employed around 4,000 people.
Gravitricity plans to store energy by lowering and raising a single massive weight suspended in the Darkov mine shaft.
The Scottish firm has demonstrated a scale version in Edinburgh built in partnership with Dutch winch specialists Huisman “and now plans to build full-scale schemes in the UK and worldwide”.
Charlie Blair, Gravitricity managing director, said that “a low carbon world will require vast amounts of energy storage”.
He claimed the firm has developed a “long-life energy storage technology which can deliver super-fast energy” and offers some of the best characteristics of lithium batteries and pumped hydro storage.
READ MORE: Energy storage firms in Edinburgh and East Lothian advance
“We hope our collaboration with Diamo will allow us to demonstrate this technology at scale and offer a potential future for coal mines that are approaching the end of their original service life,” Mr Blair said.
Matt Field, British Ambassador to the Czech Republic, said: “It is a great honour to host this Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony.
“We truly appreciate that Gravitricity, Diamo and Technical University Ostrava plan to cooperate on Gravitricity’s first prototype project. It would be the first full-scale installation of this renewable energy technology, a project that is unique, transformative and green.”
Ludvik Kaspar, Diamo chief executive, said its main task is to “provide the liquidation of mines, but at the same time we are looking for new uses for the mine sites according to the needs of the region”.
He said: “The Gravitricity project is an opportunity for mines and also for our experts, who can try working on new projects and cooperation with a foreign entity.”
READ MORE: Edinburgh firm reveals underground hydrogen storage plan
In its process, Gravitricity uses heavy weights of up to 12,000 tonnes suspended in a deep shaft by cables attached to winches.
When there is excess electricity, for example on a windy day, the weight is winched to the top of the shaft ready to generate power.
This weight can then be released, providing power.
Gravitricity estimates there are around 14,000 mines which could be suitable for energy storage worwide.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel