EDF and Stornetic have launched a joint project on advanced smart grid storage solutions in order to assess the performance of flywheel energy storage technology facing the requirements of a modern grid environment. As part of the collaboration, Stornetic is going to deliver a DuraStor energy storage device by June 2017 which will be installed and assessed at the EDF Concept Grid site in Moret-sur-Loing near Paris.
The DuraStor enables grid operators to transform electrical energy into rotation energy and store it. It is a durable solution, designed for more than 1,000,000 charging cycles and retains its full capacity over its complete lifetime. It combines the advantages of mechanical energy storage, such as sturdiness and endurance, with the advantages of modularity and rapid installation. The device operates purely mechanically, without the use of chemicals, and is made of materials that are fully recyclable.
“We believe that energy storage solutions will play a key role in the upcoming transformations of the electrical systems” said Etienne Brière, Renewables and Storage Programme Director at EDF R&D. “Thanks to the unique EDF experimental facility of Concept Grid, we are able to reproduce real distribution networks and test innovative electrical equipment in fully controllable conditions of operation. Thus, as one of the promising storage solutions, we are very excited to assess the performances of the Stornetic technology regarding various applications such as renewables smoothing or frequency regulation.”
Stornetic’s Director, Olivier Marques, added that the flywheel can make a real difference. It is ideal for customers with many charging and discharging cycles, which makes it highly interesting to operators of microgrids all around the globe.
The Concept Grid laboratory is a unique smart grid test facility located in the South of Paris, dedicated to the validation of innovative solutions for the electrical system. It aims to reduce the time to market of new smart grid technologies by helping manufacturers, start-ups and academics to understand and meet the challenges of a real field environment. Concept Grid is also a key laboratory for utilities to prepare and de-risk experimentations through accelerated test campaigns that would be impossible to conduct on the field.
Concept Grid consists of 10 kilometres of real electrical medium and low voltage networks. It has several substations and test areas, a neighbourhood of five small houses fitted with local generation and can also perform bespoke scenarios with power hardware in the loop simulation. It is open to external customers and collaborations.
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