Hydro plant for tungsten mine firm
PLYMOUTH’S Hemerdon tungsten mine has been chosen as the site of a pioneering £8.25m hydro energy plant which would see a cream-like fluid used to generate electricity, writes William Telford.
London-based renewable energy company RheEnergise wants to start construction of the HighDensity Hydro storage system at the Plympton site as early as summer 2023.
The company has already spoken to the parish council and is to submit plans to Devon County Council soon. It hopes permission will be given and the site will be in operation by the end of 2023 and then trialled for two years before the technology is rolled out nationally and worldwide.
RheEnergise has been awarded an £8.25m small business research initiative (SBRI) contract from the Government’s Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP). It will use the cash for research and development and to construct the first-of-a-kind 250kW/1MWh/four hours demonstrator at the Plymouth mine.
Rather than using water, RheEnergise has developed a fluid, which is two and a half times denser than water - and close to the texture of cream. The fluid, which is commercially secret, is environmentally benign but capable of providing two and a half times the power and energy of conventional low-density hydropower systems that operate in the Scottish Highlands, Wales and across Europe. It means it can be used on hillsides rather than only in mountainous areas.
The plan is to contain the fluid in storage tanks buried underground at the top and bottom of a hill. At times of low energy demand, with associated low costs, the High-Density Fluid R-19 is pumped uphill between the tanks, which are connected by underground pipes.
As energy prices rise, the noncorrosive fluid is released downhill and passes through turbines, generating electricity to supply power to the grid. Projects will range from 5MW to 100MW of power and can work with vertical elevations as low as 100m or less.
It means that, unlike conventional pumped hydro energy storage, a RheEnergise HD Hydro system can operate beneath small hills rather than mountains because the system requires two and a half times less vertical elevation. It also means that there are many more sites suitable for RheEnergise projects in the UK and across the world. RheEnergise’s analysis of potential project opportunities has indicated there are about 6,500 possible sites in the UK, about 115,000 in Europe, about 345,000 in North America and about 500,000 in Africa and the Middle East.
Stephen Crosher, chief executive of RheEnergise, said: “Over the next decade, Long Duration Energy Storage can make an important contribution to the UK energy market.”