ENERGY STORAGE
AirBattery
As the energy transition progresses, reliance on intermittent renewable energy grows. Grid operators are challenged by potentially long periods of undersupply (from wind and solar). Currently, fossil fuel powerplants provide backup power to encounter such long durations.
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Augwind’s AirBattery is aiming to replace those polluting fossil fuel powerplants with an environmentally–friendly energy storage solution.
The AirBattery system leverages the main benefits of Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) and Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) to enable grid-scale, multi-day energy storage. It combines geological compressed air storage (low incremental capex on a $/kWh basis) with highly efficient hydro turbomachinery. A closed-loop liquid piston mechanism is used to compress and expand air in an underground isothermal process.
The AirBattery is built to deliver a superior Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS) and provide the missing link for a 100% renewable electrical grid.
OUR GOALS
ENABLE NET-ZERO
Augwind's AirBattery will provide grid-operators with a high-capacity energy storage asset. This will enable further reliance on intermittent renewables.
HIGH CAPACITY
The AirBattery will be able to store and provide large volumes of energy over multi-day durations (aminig for TWh scale deployments rather than MWh).
COST EFFICIENCY
Augwind aims to be the most cost-effective energy storage solution on the market on a Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS) basis.
AirBattery Prototype System
Augwind is currently in the final stages of upgrading and re-commissioning it's prototype energy storage system in the Arava desert in southern Israel.
The project is designed to demonstrate Augwind’s AirBattery energy storage technology in small scale, and to advance the system's roadmap for commercialization.
The program is a cooperative effort alongside the Israeli Ministry of energy and the communal settlement of Kibbutz Yahel.
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WHY AirBattery?
HYDROMACHINERY IMPROVED EFFICIENCY
Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) utilize pumps and hydro-turbines, connecting higher and lower reservoirs. PHES is the most prevalent energy storage solution currently available due to its high efficiency, competitive cost and negligible degradation. The AirBattery utilizes the proven, inherent advantages of PHES turbomachinery, in combination with a lower-cost compressed-air reservoir.
ELECTRO
Today, the leading solutions in this field is mainly lithium-ion batteries. These systems are limited to medium-small volumes (up to 100 megawatts), they have high costs and are consumable after relatively few cycles. The systems also include chemicals with adverse environmental effects such as lead, lithium, nickel and cadmium, and require the use of cooling and safety support systems as well as constant monitoring of the battery.
KINETIC ELECTRO-MECHANICAL ENERGY
Kinetic energy is stored in flywheels by cylinders or rotating discs, whose speed decreases as energy flows.The cost of storage (per Kw / h) is relatively high, and there is a permanent and significant loss of energy which rises proportionally to the storage time needed (up to 25% of the total energy per day).
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