The UK government has awarded GBP 32.9 million (USD 39.7m/EUR 38.3m) in funding to five innovative energy storage projects under the second phase of its Longer Duration Energy Storage competition, it announced today.
The supported technologies will be able to store energy as heat, electricity or hydrogen. Edinburgh-based StorTera Ltd has secured GBP 5.02 million to create a prototype demonstrator of its single liquid flow battery (SLIQ) technology. East Lothian-headquartered Sunamp Ltd will get GBP 9.25 million to test its thermal storage system in 100 homes across the UK.
The University of Sheffield has been awarded GBP 2.6 million to develop a prototype modular thermal energy storage system designed to provide optimised, flexible storage of heat within homes.
With a GBP-8.24-million grant, RheEnergise Ltd will build a demonstrator of its High-Density Hydro pumped energy storage system near Plymouth. The technology uses a fluid denser than water to generate electricity from gentle slopes.
The government is also backing with GBP 7.73 million an initiative of EDF UK R&D and its partners, the University of Bristol, Urenco and the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), to develop a hydrogen storage demonstrator using depleted uranium at UKAEA’s Culham Science Centre in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
The funding follows GBP 2.7 million of grants provided under phase one to 19 projects, of which the most promising projects have now received additional support.
The Longer Duration Energy Storage Demonstration competition has a total budget of GBP 68 million that is being allocated in two phases, across two streams. The newly announced awards refer to stream 2 projects that support prototype demonstrations, while stream 1 supports demonstrations of technologies closer to commercialisation.
“Accelerating renewables is key to boosting our energy resilience. Energy storage helps us get the full benefit of these renewables, improving efficiency and helping drive down costs in the long term,” commented Minister for Climate Graham Stuart.
(GBP 1 = USD 1.208/EUR 1.164)
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Image by StorTera
