Pumped storage | Subsea energy storage
The StEnSea project is seeking to revolutionise long duration energy storage by adapting the principles of pumped storage hydro for subsea environments
Above: StEnSea application. ©Hochtief
GERMANY’S FRAUNHOFER INSTITUTE FOR Energy Economics and Energy System Technology IEE has developed an underwater energy storage system, that transfers the principle of pumped storage power plants to the seabed. After a successful field test with a smaller model in Lake Constance, the researchers are now preparing a test run off the Californian coast with its partners. “Pumped storage power plants are particularly
suitable for storing electricity for several hours to a few days. However, their expansion potential is severely limited worldwide and so we are transferring their functional principle to the seabed – the natural and ecological restrictions are far lower there. In addition” explains Dr Bernhard Ernst, Senior Project Manager at Fraunhofer IEE, “the acceptance of the citizens is likely to be significantly higher.” The StEnSea (Stored Energy in Sea) project has been in development since 2012. Fraunhofer IEE is working with US start-up Sperra, which specialises in 3D concrete printing for applications in the field of renewable energies, along with Pleuger Industries. This German company, headquartered in Miami, manufactures underwater motor pumps, a key component of the StEnSea spherical storage. The partners have selected a coastal area off Long Beach near Los Angeles as the storage site and plan to put it into operation by the end of 2026 at the latest. The StEnSea project will anchor a hollow, 400-ton
Left: Charging: The water is pumped out of the sphere using an electrically driven pump turbine. Discharging: The water flows back into the empty sphere, whereby the pump turbine is operated in reverse as a turbine and generates electricity via a generator. © Fraunhofer IEE
28 | February 2025 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
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