There are more than 80,000 abandoned mines around Australia.
The vast bulk of these sites have been left unrehabilitated and are sitting idle. This is also the case in the US, where there are an estimated 500,000 abandoned mines, and Canada, where there are at least 10,000.
A Wollongong-based tech company has developed a method for utilising these unused sites to produce green energy to assist with the transition to renewable energy.
Green Gravity’s gravitational energy storage technology employs a system of weights in these mine shafts in order to store energy from renewable sources.
This is done through using this energy to raise the weights in the shaft, allowing for the energy to be later released when the weights are lowered under the pull of gravity.
This offers low-levelised cost of storage, scalability and an extremely low environmental footprint, capitalising on Australia’s rich history of mining to assist with the transition to net-zero emissions and a sustainable electricity grid.
Green Gravity’s key customers include energy generators who are integrating renewable energy, and mining companies look to repurpose their existing assets to assist with decarbonisation.
Green Gravity’s gravitational energy storage is a finalist in the InnovationAus 2024 Award for Excellence in Energy and Renewables. The InnovationAus Awards for Excellence winners and finalists will be celebrated at a black-tie gala dinner at The Venue Alexandria in Sydney on Wednesday October 30. You can book your tickets here.
Green Gravity was founded by Mark Swinnerton, who has three decades of experience in mining and manufacturing.
It launched in 2021 and began developing its technology, which can store wind and solar energy when it is in surplus and then re-dispatch it when they are in deficit, using the weights technology in mine shafts.
It began commercial site feasibility testing of this technology at two locations from midway through this year. This activity will ramp up over the coming 18 months and will cover 75 mine shifts that are already subject to access agreements.
Green Gravity plans to enter production-scale demonstrations of its offering by the end of this year, and to commence initial manufacturing capability with critical componentry next year.
This will build on the company’s existing advanced demonstrator, the Gravity Lab, which helps to complete mine site calibration of the technical designs of its technology.
Green Gravity’s technology uses heavy-weighted objects that move vertically through mine shafts in order to utilise the gravitational potential energy for the purpose of energy storage.
As this occurs, this energy is consumed in order to run the winder and motors, converting electrical energy into gravitational potential energy.
Then at other times the technology can lower the objects in the mine shaft, generating energy as the falling weight spins the winder and causing the regenerative motor to generate electricity.
The decarbonisation of the electricity required for Australia and other nations to reach net-zero carbon emissions will require large amounts of additional intermittent renewable production sources, such as wind and solar energy.
But these come with issues around dispatchability and the stability of the grid, with a need for energy storage infrastructure to be deployed at scale to manage this issue.
That’s where Green Gravity’s gravitational energy storage technology enters, using existing mine shafts to store and dispatch renewable energy.
Looking for brand exposure in front of Australia’s tech ecosystem? Purchase a table of 10 for the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence and have your logo displayed on screens across the venue and in the event programme as a table sponsor,
The InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence are supported by the Australian Computer Society, Investment NSW, Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Technology Council of Australia, TechnologyOne, National Artificial Intelligence Centre, CSIRO’s ON Innovation Program, Reason Group, Q-CTRL, University of New South Wales, and IP Australia.
Protecting your great ideas with intellectual property (IP) rights can lead to lasting benefits for your growing business. IP refers to creations of the mind, such as a brand, logo, invention, design or artistic work. Head to the IP Australia website to find out more about IP, and how it might help your business.
Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.