The article The world’s largest sand battery stores heat energy first appeared at the online magazine Basic Thinking. You can start the day well every morning via our newsletter update.
The Finnish company Polar Night Energy has put the world’s largest sand battery into operation. It stores excess energy as heat in sand.
If you think of batteries, you probably think of lithium-ion batteries. In Finland, the Start-up Polar Night Energy has been using another technology for some time: a battery with sand.
North of Helsinki, the company now took the world’s largest sand battery in operation. It stores excess energy as heat in sand and serves as the main heat source for the local district heating network. The project is not only an eye -catcher, but is also an important step in the fight against climate change.
The system, which is over 100 tons, has a thermal performance of a megawatts and a storage capacity of 100 megawatt hours. This makes it ten times larger than its predecessor. The aim is to complete the use of oil in the heat network completely and to reduce the consumption of wood chips by around 60 percent.
Mikko Paajanen, CEO of the local heating operator, says that the sand battery should reduce CO2 emissions by almost 70 percent.
Sand battery: Like a sand castle that stores the heat
The sand battery is basically a high-temperature heat storage system that stores clean electricity as heat in sand or similar materials. Excess energy from wind and solar power heats up the sand in the large silo. In the summer months, the battery can cover the entire heat requirement of porn stains, while in winter it can still deliver warmth for almost a week. An existing biomass boiler only serves as a backup for peak load times.
The profitability of the sand battery depends on how well it is adapted to the electricity prices. The Finnish telecommunications company Elisa has developed a AI-controlled solution for this, which automatically recognizes the most economical moments for charging or unloading the battery. This should give the operator considerable savings and income and make the sand battery a really profitable investment.
Recycling in the heart of the battery
The storage medium in the sand battery is not an ordinary sand. This project is a shredded bacon, a waste product from the production of Tulikivi, a manufacturer of fireplaces. Instead of using expensive new raw materials, the battery uses industrial waste. Polar Night Energy used about 2000 tons of the material in the project, which corresponds approximately to the weight of a thousand bacon stone fireplaces. This shows how the cooperation creates a circular economy.
The sand battery is a perfect example of how new systems and cooperations drive the energy transition. It stabilizes the power grid by offering a large storage capacity, reduces the dependence on fossil fuels and uses waste products as a raw material. Polar Night Energy is already in conversation with other partners to scale the technology. What sounded like a crazy idea is now a bright example that the energy transition can not only be possible, but also profitable and sustainable.
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As a Tech Industry expert, I find the concept of the world’s largest sand battery storing heat energy to be incredibly innovative and promising for sustainable energy storage solutions. Utilizing sand as a medium to store heat energy has the potential to revolutionize the way we think about energy storage and could have a significant impact on reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.
The scalability of this technology is particularly exciting, as it has the potential to be deployed on a large scale to store and release energy as needed. This could help to address the intermittency of renewable energy sources like solar and wind power, making them more reliable and efficient.
Furthermore, the use of sand as a storage medium is appealing due to its abundance and low cost. This could make the technology more accessible and affordable, opening up opportunities for widespread adoption in both developed and developing countries.
Overall, I believe that the world’s largest sand battery represents a major step forward in the transition to a more sustainable and renewable energy future. I look forward to seeing how this technology develops and how it can contribute to addressing the challenges of climate change and energy security.
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