UK Business Secretary Vince Cable endorses SMi conference key speaker

June 13, 2012 - PRLog -- Using a combined heat pump/heat engine, Isentropic have developed an innovative way to harness a temperature difference to store energy.  First, electricity is used to create a large temperature difference (500oC hot and -160oC cold), which can then be stored in two low-cost gravel silos. Recombining the hot and cold regenerates the electricity with an overall efficiency of 75%.

Vince Cable yesterday endorsed progress in large-scale electricity storage by Isentropic, a key speaker at SMi's upcoming Grid-Scale Energy Storage conference. Using a combined heat pump/heat engine, Isentropic have developed an innovative way to harness a temperature difference to store energy.  First, electricity is used to create a large temperature difference (500oC hot and -160oC cold), which can then be stored in two low-cost gravel silos. Recombining the hot and cold regenerates the electricity with an overall efficiency of 75%.

In an announcement with the UK's Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), Isentropic announced £14m of ETI funding to develop a 1.5MW/6MWh energy storage device.  The device will operate at a UK primary substation and, once tested, may be rolled out across the country.  With approximately 5,000 substations across the kingdom, this is expected to bring cost benefits for electricity customers.  

“We believe this investment and project will allow us to demonstrate further our leading position in the fast growing energy storage market,” says James Mcnaughten, Chief Executive Officer of Isentropic.  

“Finding innovative ways to store energy [is] an increasingly important factor in the transition to a green economy," added Vince Cable, UK Business Secretary. “The UK needs to seize the opportunities presented by the transition to a green economy and finding low cost solutions to electricity storage offers significant growth opportunities while also helping us meet the challenges of climate change."

Further details of Isentropic’s presentation at 4pm on June 26th can be found at: www.gridscale-energystorage.com and clicking on the ‘Programme’ and ‘Day 2’ tabs.


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Andrew Gibbons
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7827 6156
Email: agibbons@sm-online.co.uk