An international consortium led by Swedish grid-scale energy storage company Mine Storage was granted funding to finalize the blueprint for what could be the world’s first underground mine storage facility, indicating increased interest in the potential of using abandoned mines for energy storage. The funding will be used to complete the application for EU funding. The work is conducted within the Strategic Innovation Program Swedish Mining Innovation, a collaboration between Sweden’s Innovation Agency, Formas and Sweden’s Energy Agency.
– I am very pleased that we have been able to team up with such competent partners to create a blueprint that will define the EU-application for what could be the first underground mine storage facility in the world, and it feels natural to do it in an energy and mining nation such as Sweden. The leverage grant is a clear indication of the increased interest in the global potential of using abandoned mines for energy storage, says Thomas Johansson, Co-Founder and CEO of Mine Storage.
Global trends such as the rapidly growing share of sustainable but intermittent power sources such as wind and solar, the rapid electrification and the volatile energy price situation all point in one direction: the world needs to store produced energy and control the energy supply to a much greater extent than today. The most efficient way is pumped storage hydropower, but most countries lack the height differences required in the landscape for storage facilities above ground. This is where mine storage comes in.
– Many countries have thousands of abandoned underground mines, meaning mine storage facilities can fill a big gap in solving the energy storage and distribution dilemma. In other words, the mining industry could become an important player in the energy field. Creating cross-sectional projects such as this is a great opportunity for all parties, including society as a whole, says Stefan Sädbom, Senior Exploration Geologist with 35 years of working in the mining and metals industry and advisor to Mine Storage.
Given the scale and complexity of building a pumped storage hydropower plant in an abandoned mine, connecting it to the power grid and managing supply and demand on the volatile energy market, setting up a mine storage facility is an enormous undertaking. Mine Storage has come a long way in mapping out the requirements and prerequisites, and this knowledge will now be refined and documented in blueprint that will be presented in the EU-application.
The consortium consists of mining companies Boliden and Lovisagruvan, energy company Mälarenergi, hydropower equipment manufacturer Voith Hydro and engineering and design company AFRY. Under direction of Mine Storage, the consortium will join forces to compile a complete blueprint for setting up a commercial mine storage facility in the historical mining area of Bergslagen in Sweden, including all the steps in the process from initial landowner and authority approval, to a grid-connected energy storage and supply facility. The work is conducted within the Strategic Innovation Program Swedish Mining Innovation, a collaboration between Sweden’s Innovation Agency, Formas and Sweden’s Energy Agency.
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 (the company):
Mine Storage is an energy storage company founded by experts with a strong track record in the energy sector. The idea for large-scale, fast-responding storage sprung out of the increasing share of intermittent power generation, which causes imbalance in the transmission grids. The Mine Storage team will contribute to a sustainable future with fossil free energy production by developing environmentally friendly energy storage plants in abandoned underground mines.
About mine storage (the technology):
Mine storage is the underground version of pumped storage hydropower. It relies on the same basic principle of moving water between two reservoirs. It too can store large quantities of energy and is highly suitable to support the grid. The main difference is that the lower water reservoir is below ground in a closed mine. This is more scalable than traditional pumped storage hydropower since there are an estimated 1 million abandoned mines across the globe. By using state of the art hydropower technology that responds quickly enough to help balance the grid, mine storage can be a true enabler for the green transition.
