Research Projects

Focus

Project management, GIS based site assessment and cost modelling, logistics, environmental impact assessment, design of the drive train and the electrical system, control and operation control, condition monitoring, dynamic modelling and simulation of the overall system, HIL laboratory tests of the scale model, assembly and installation, field testing and evaluation.

Content

The project comprises the development and testing of a novel pumped storage concept for storing large amounts of electrical energy offshore. This marine pumped storage concept utilizes the sea itself as upper storage reservoir and a hollow sphere on the seabed as the lower storage reservoir. Water is being pumped out of the sphere during pumping/charging operation and water flows back into the sphere and drives a turbine coupled to a generator during generation/discharging operation.

The project builds up on a pre-study conducted by the project partners and comprises a detailed system analysis including construction, manufacturing and logistics concepts of the pressure reservoir, development and detailed design of the pump/turbine, grid integration on the basis of load calculations, market analyses and economic viability calculations for an international market as well as the development of a commercialisation strategy and a roadmap for technical implementation. Furthermore in the current project phase field testing of a 1:10 scale model will be conducted in inland lake. In this context details regarding construction and manufacturing, installation and logistics as well as operation & maintenance of the storage system will be investigated.