Can flywheel energy storage be commercially viable?

This project explored flywheel energy storage R&D to reach commercial viability for utility scale energy storage. This required advancing the design, manufacturing capability, system cost, storage capacity, efficiency, reliability, safety, and system level operation of flywheel energy storage technology.

What is a flywheel energy storage system?

A typical flywheel energy storage system , which includes a flywheel/rotor, an electric machine, bearings, and power electronics. Fig. 3. The Beacon Power Flywheel , which includes a composite rotor and an electric machine, is designed for frequency regulation.

What is a flywheel/kinetic energy storage system (fess)?

Thanks to the unique advantages such as long life cycles, high power density, minimal environmental impact, and high power quality such as fast response and voltage stability, the flywheel/kinetic energy storage system (FESS) is gaining attention recently.

Can flywheels save energy?

Installing 100 MW’s worth of flywheels used for distribution can reduce demand charges by $36 million and provide $8 million of energy savings a year since the FESS can eliminate mid-day peak and evening peaks of electricity use. Lithium battery technology can only do one peak reduction a day.

Are flywheel-based hybrid energy storage systems based on compressed air energy storage?

While many papers compare different ESS technologies, only a few research , studies design and control flywheel-based hybrid energy storage systems. Recently, Zhang et al. present a hybrid energy storage system based on compressed air energy storage and FESS.

What are flywheel systems used for?

Almost all the existing flywheel systems are designed for specific applications such as frequency regulation or UPS. They require specialized knowledge and techniques for manufacture, assembly, and maintenance, which prevents them from being produced in large quantities to reduce cost per unit.