Finland Begins Operation On World’s First Large Scale Sand Battery

Finland has kickstarted operations on world’s first commercial large scale sand-based thermal energy storage system. The battery has been innovated by Polar Night Energy and operated by energy utility in West Finland, Vatajankoski.

The dimensions of the steel container are 4×7 metre, which can hold hundreds of tonnes of sand. This sand is further heated at 500-600 degrees Celsius with renewable electricity. It is then ready for storage and put to good use in the local district heating system. The thermal energy storage system is a boon for Finland, which witnesses long and cold winters. Aggravating its woes further is the fact that the country was recently suspended from gas supplies from Russia because of a conflict over payments. The system, which offers an energy capacity of 8MWh, has the potential to discharge a maximum of 100kW of thermal power. This is equivalent to 80 hours of storage duration. The authorities, however, want to ramp the system up to 8GWh, as per a BBC report.

“This innovation is a part of the smart and green energy transition. Heat storages can significantly help to increase intermittent renewables in the electrical grid. At the same time we can prime the waste heat to usable level to heat a city. This is a logical step towards combustion-free heat production,” co-founder of Polar Night Energy, Markku Ylönen, stated.

Innovation In Thermal Storage Facility- The Way Forward

This innovation by developer Polar Night Energy, was preceded by Swedish public utility Vattenfall which is all set to begin filling up a 200MW-rated thermal energy storage facility in Berlin.

Developers have said that sand battery could be a unique solution to the challenge of the year-round supply of green energy. At a time when the world faces the climate crisis and is looking to continuously adopt green energy alternatives, sand batteries could prove to be a cheap and simple means of power generation which can store sand for months together at a time.