Flywheel technology is being put to the test in a microgrid demonstration project at a US military base.
The microgrid Fractalgrid project at Camp Pendleton, California, is testing start-up Quantum Energy Storage’s 60-kilowatt, 100-kilowatt-hour flywheel system.
The micro grid also includes solar PV, diesel generators, and batteries.
At less than two feet thick the flywheel is more like a pancake than traditional cylindrical flywheel products and will run at about 6,000 rotations per minute.
Quantum Energy has also developed its own software to monitor and control the flywheel.
Quantum Energy has been providing 10 hours of backup power overnight to the camp’s parking garage, and power for elevators, during the day during initial tests.
