Energy Vault, a Swiss company specialising in grid-scale long duration energy storage (LDES), recently announced an exclusive global partnership with SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill), the US architecture and engineering firm responsible for designing many of the world’s most well-known buildings – including Burj Khalifa, Tianjin CTF Finance Centre, Willis Tower, and One World Trade Center.
Renewable energy is a major focus as engineers look for new methods to improve our society. So, what can you do if you get access to the world’s tallest buildings, and you have an idea about storing potential energy in a sustainable manner?
Having made strides in gravity energy storage systems (GESS) – which hold the potential to store and supply renewable energy to the power grid safely, for long periods, and without degrading – Energy Vault sought out SOM’s architecture and engineering expertise to develop the next generation of GESS technology to be integrated into tall buildings,
Technically the storage models in two of the EV-series – EVu and EVc – combine a superstructure tower design, which enables GESS integration into tall buildings through the use of a hollowed structure. These can be incorporated into buildings with heights between 300 and 1,000 meters.
EVu would use the GESS system of elevating heavy blocks using electric motors, which creates potential energy that can be converted into power when the blocks are released. Energy Vault claims that potentially this system could power not only the building itself but those nearby and enable carbon payback within 3–4 years.
The EVc model would similarly integrate a mix of GESS and pumped hydro in a “modular water-based system” that would, instead of a large weight, pump water to the top of a tower and then drop it to run turbines and produce power.
Both models allow a flexible solution for storage and recovery of surplus of renewable energy in densely populated cities. Unlike pumped hydro storage facilities, which can only be built on specific natural sites, GESS installations can theoretically be constructed anywhere.
“The combination of our pioneering work in gravity energy storage technology, and one of the best architecture firms will provide the first platform toward delivering accelerated carbon payback in building construction and operation,” said Robert Piconi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Energy Vault.
