Old Coal Mines as Giant Batteries – Brilliant Idea or Engineering Nightmare?

Old coal mines could hold the key to one of the biggest challenges in the clean energy transition — long-duration energy storage. From gravity systems to underground pumped hydro and compressed air solutions, researchers are revisiting these vast, abandoned structures as potential “underground batteries.” But while the physics may be straightforward, the reality is far more complex. So, can we really turn millions of disused mine shafts into a reliable energy storage network, or is this another promising idea that struggles to survive in the real world?

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Reference Links

Engineering with Rosie - Compressed Air video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_L8Px45I9Y

Oak Ridge National Laboratory
https://www.ornl.gov/news/transforming-abandoned-coal-mines-energy-storage-solutions

Michael Barnard on Compressed air technologies
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/05/07/compressed-gas-for-electricity-storage-claims-are-mostly-hot-air/

Article in The Independent newspaper
https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/gravity-battery-mine-shaft-electricity-b2263572.html

Article on NS Energy website
https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/analysis/advantages-and-challenges-in-converting-abandoned-mines-for-energy-storage/

Gravitricity liquidation news
https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/energy-storage/gravitricity-wound-up-voluntarily-with-under-8k-assets

Hydrostor website
https://hydrostor.ca/

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