Stockholm, Sweden, September 8th, 2020: If the climate goals are to be met a substantial expansion of renewable energy is needed, but the transition is held back by a lack of large-scale energy storage capacity. The solution may be mine storage: a combination of proven technology and innovation now being launched by the Swedish company Mine Storage International.
Virtually everything we do today requires electricity. But what many people do not know is that the electrical grid is entirely dependent on that the production of electricity exactly matches the consumption at every single moment. If not, the frequency or voltage will change and our equipment may break – from lamps, to ventilators, or the computers in the air traffic control tower. This is a tremendous challenge for the transition to renewable energy, since we cannot control the sun or wind and the electricity grid cannot store energy to balance the production. Hydro power and nuclear power are important in many countries, but they too fail to match the consumption patterns.
This is where mine storage comes in as a possible solution for switching to renewable energy. One of the most proven technologies for energy storage is pumping water to a higher altitude when electricity is cheap or abundant, to release it again when more production is needed. Out of the energy stored today (about 3 per cent of all energy produced) 94 per cent is pumped hydro in dams and hydro power plants. But this is only possible in locations with altitude differences in the landscape, such as Sweden, Norway or Austria. Countries like Germany, Great Britain and most of the US are flatter and hence lack suitable sites.
What these countries do have are abandoned mines. Mine Storage International offers an opportunity for any country to store energy in underground mines in an environmentally friendly, cost efficient and energy efficient way, and thereby roll out renewable energy without risking power grid problems. Most countries already need this, but with the ever-increasing electrification of society and demand for green energy the need will keep growing exponentially. According to the International Energy Agency, green energy only amounts to about a quarter of the current energy production (28 per cent) and estimates say that 660 billion dollars of energy storage investments will be needed by 2040.
”The climate threat is a fact and renewable energy cannot be fully deployed without large-scale energy storage. The shift to green energy needs to go faster and mine storage is a key element in this. We are humble facing this huge challenge, but very ambitious and committed to our mission. Our project portfolio is already very promising, and together with our team, I am confident we will be successful”, says Thomas Johansson, co-founder and CEO of Mine Storage International.
For more information, please contact:
Thomas Johansson, Co-Founder and CEO thomas.johansson@minestorage.com +46 70 696 78 00
Raine Vasanoja, Co-Founder and CCO raine.vasanoja@minestorage.com +46 70 310 57 20
Anna Engman, Co-Founder and CMO anna.engman@minestorage.com +46 70 632 62 95
About Mine Storage International
Mine Storage International was founded by a group of energy experts and renewable energy investors who joined forces to enable the green energy transition. The company’s business case is to build solutions for large-scale energy storage and regulation in abandoned mines all over the world, in collaboration with mine owners, landowners, energy companies and other interested parties. Mine Storage International optimizes each site to operate on different energy markets and generate revenues from energy arbitrage and grid balancing/frequency regulation.
The Mine Storage International Team
The founders of Mine Storage International are Thomas Johansson, Raine Vasanoja, Christopher Engman and Anna Engman. The team combines engineering and project development experience, an understanding of the energy market, and experience from a multitude of scale-ups. The company is backed up by a group of experienced investors such as Joachim Karthäuser, Co-Founder of Climeon; Magnus Söderberg, Professor of Energy Economics at the University of Southern Denmark; David Tomsic, Founder of Gillöga; and Maximilian Hermelin, investor and entrepreneur.
Raine Vasanoja, Co-Founder and CCO:
“The need for energy storage is immediate, and the market is there. Regulation and the capital markets are also transitioning to a more sustainable economy. We have a mature solution which can contribute to the energy transition with a real impact and in a sustainable way.”
Christopher Engman, Co-Founder:
“Our future depends on a fast transition from brown to green energy. Renewable power plays a significant part and we need to speed up the roll-out of wind, solar and heat power. Most renewable power generation is intermittent so the production will vary over the day which means that there is a constant imbalance in how much electricity we generate and how much is consumed. This puts new requirements on the electric grid – mainly in the form of large-scale energy storage. I’m excited to be a part of the team that will help solve this problem. The usage of proven technology is key and enables a quick positive environmental impact. “
Anna Engman, Co-Founder and CMO:
“Storing energy in mines is a brilliant idea. The environmental impact of the mine has already taken place and with mine storage, the mine is given a new and sustainable purpose. We use water, which is the cleanest means of storage, and the most obvious force which is gravity. The result has a fundamental impact on the energy system in the form of large-scale energy storage that brings balance to the grid.”
How mine storage can be used to store energy
Mine storage is a proven technology now being moved underground into abandoned mines. The mines thereby shift from liabilities to hidden resources enabling a sustainable energy transition. Water and gravity together with pumps and turbines create a closed loop system with low environmental impact. When there is an excess of power in the electricity grid, water is pumped up the shaft from lower levels of the mine. When consumption is higher than energy production, water is released down again through turbines which feeds electricity back into the grid. Additionally, modern pumped hydro technology responds fast to immediate grid balancing needs. Pumped hydro has been used for centuries and is thereby the most mature technology for large-scale energy storage with grid balancing effects. With a lifespan of 60 years and a round efficiency of 70-80 per cent mine storage is the best large-scale storage solution at the lowest cost.