The pilot plant of the sand battery, which is being built in South Finland, will build on the existing technology of the startup and test the power of the energy storage system to convert heat back into electricity.
The Finnish startup Polar Night Energy has announced a new pilot project that will test the next generation of its sand battery technology.
The Sand Battery Pilot factory will build on the existing technology of the company, which stores thermal energy for industrial or district heating, and will be able to restore the stored thermal energy in electricity, a process known as Power-to-Hit-to-Power (P2H2P).
The project will be built in Valkeakoski, South FinlandIn collaboration with Valkeakosks Energia, an energy company that is owned by the city. Construction will start in the fall this year. The site will contain a thermal energy storage unit and technical building that covers almost the entire plot.
A statement from Polar Night Energy says that the project will work at considerably higher temperatures than current sand batteries used for heat production. It adds that achieving these higher temperatures and overcoming related material technology -challenges are the most important goals for the project, which will run in early 2027.
Polar Night Energy says that technology has the potential to significantly reduce emissions and to make renewable energy sources, including solar and wind, more reliable and more cost-effective. “When operational, the new sand battery would make a better match possible between electricity production and consumption, which supports the growth of wind and solar energy,” the company says.
Markku Ylönen, Polar Night Energy CTO, adds that Valkeakosks Energia has identified a suitable site for the pilot, whereby the heat is generated to be entered in the district network of the energy company, reducing energy waste.
Polar Night Energy says that it will work in the future to deliver commercial electricity production factories.
Last year Polar Night Energy plans for one 1 MW on sand -based heat storage battery In the municipality of Porninen, South Finland. It started Testing the project In November. The company also brought in € 7.6 million ($ 8.2 million) seed financing Last year.
In 2022 it switched the Worldly first Commercially sand -based heat storage system at high temperature in the Finnish city of Kankaanpäää, with 100 kW heating capacity and 8 MWh energy capacity.
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