Mine Storage International AB (Mine Storage) and the Korsnäs Municipality announces today that they have entered into a land rights agreement to develop a mine storage energy storage facility in the Korsnäs mine located in Ostrobotnia, Finland. The aim is to establish how the Korsnäs mine could be converted into a mine storage to store electricity production from renewables and to support the Finnish transmission grid.
In a joint press conference, the companies presented plans of investigating and developing a mine storage in the Korsnäs mine which is owned by the Korsnäs municipality. The project development in Korsnäs is one of several mine storage projects currently under development by Mine Storage.
The Korsnäs mine was closed in 1973 and is now water filled. Initial investigations indicate that the mine shows potential to become a mine storage. The next steps are to continue the technical and environmental investigations to establish how the mine can be converted into a grid-scale mine storage.
“We are both trilled and exited for the possibilities of future energy storage in the old mine in our municipality. The mine storage concept is circularity at it’s best. It brings together old heavy industrial areas with innovative green energy ideas. We have big areas suitable for off-shore wind power which means that if this project succeeds, it will give both Ostrobotnia and Korsnäs municipality a big boost of “energy” in our efforts to conquer the green transition effectively”, says Christina Båssar, Municipality Director at Korsnäs Municipality.
The electricity grid can’t store energy, which means that power needs to be consumed the instant moment it is produced and vice versa. Mine storages enables for more weather dependent renewables to be connected to the grid, as it can store large amounts of energy to balance out energy supply and demand.
A mine storage is a grid-scale energy storage with very low environmental impact. It transforms a mine into a circular asset by using the mine as a water reservoir and utilizing the height difference and water to create a closed-loop pumped storage hydropower system. With excess generation from renewables, energy can be stored by pumping water from the mine to an upper water reservoir at ground level. When the demand for electricity is high, water is released back into the mine through hydroelectric turbines and electricity is fed back into the grid.
“We see great potential for profitably building and operating mine storages in Finland. Korsnäs is a forward-thinking municipality and an appreciated partner. Locally, we can co-exist along with, and have a great dialogue with other companies that are investigating the potential of establishing themselves in Korsnäs. Apart from the mine storage project, there are several ongoing renewables electricity production development projects in and near Korsnäs. Together the combination of energy storage and more renewable energy production could boost the whole region” says Robert Magnusson, market responible of the Finnish market at Mine Storage.
The Finnish market is of broader interest to the Company and Mine Storage is also looking into several other opportunities in Finland together with another local partner, Etha Wind, a leading consulting company in renewable energy.
For more information, contact:
Robert Magnusson, Responsible for market development of the Finnish market at Mine Storage, Robert.magnusson@minestorage.com, +46 70 574 6042
Christina Båssar, Municipality Director, Korsnäs Kommun, christina.bassar@korsnas.fi, +358(0) 46-922 9495
About Korsnäs Municipality
The municipality of Korsnäs is a small rural area in Ostrobothnia and is located about 45 km to the south of Vasa, the regional city of Ostrobothnia.
Korsnäs has about 2.000 habitants and of these about 86 % has Swedish language as native language, in the end of 1980:s Korsnäs was the most Swedish speaking municipality in the world, but nowadays that title is hold by a municipality in Åland.
In Korsnäs the old mine was in production from 1958 – 1973, when all the led had been digged out and sent out in the world.
The leftover from the mine is still located on the ground besides the mine in Korsnäs and after all the years since the closing of the mine, nature has overtaken the grounds again. But underneath the small lake hides about 2 km of mine corridors, and they go down to a depth of 267 meters.
About Etha Wind
