First-of-kind demonstrator of its High-Density Hydro® storage system to be built in Devon  

RheEnergise, the UK company that is developing a new and advanced form of long-duration hydro-energy storage system, has been awarded a UK£8.25m small business research initiative (SBRI) contract from the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) to deploy a first-of-a-kind demonstrator of its High-Density Hydro® storage system. 

RheEnergise will deploy a 250kW/1MWh (4 hours) demonstrator at a mine, close to Plymouth, Devon within the next 18 months. 

RheEnergise’s High-Density Hydro® storage system is low-cost, energy efficient and environmentally benign.   Rather than using water, RheEnergise has developed a fluid, which is 2½ times denser than water, and which can provide 2½ times the power and 2½ times the energy when compared to a conventional low-density hydro-power system that operate in the Scottish Highlands, Wales and across Europe. 

The contract is from BEIS’s Longer Duration Energy Storage (LODES) Demonstration Programme (Stream 2) which is a part of the UK Government’s £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) that aims to accelerate the commercialisation of low-carbon technologies and systems.  Earlier this year, RheEnergise secured a £150,000 grant from Phase 1 of the LODES Demonstration Programme. 

Minister for Climate, Graham Stuart said: 

“Accelerating renewables is key to boosting our energy resilience. Energy storage helps us get the full benefit of these renewables, improving efficiency and helping drive down costs in the long term. 

“This £32.9 million government backing will enable green innovators across the UK to develop this technology, helping create new jobs and encouraging private investment, while also safeguarding the UK’s energy security.” 

Stephen Crosher, Chief Executive of RheEnergise said: “Over the next decade, Long Duration Energy Storage can make an important contribution to the UK energy market, and indeed globally.  Long Duration Energy Storage is a key to delivering the energy transition and will help strengthen the resilience and security of the UK’s energy system. It will be essential to the effective operation of the grid as it balances intermittent renewable generation, it helps to create effective base-load power from renewables, whilst at the same time keeping costs low. Our storage system offers a solution.” 

“BEIS’s contract is incredibly welcome and will enable us to accelerate the commercial deployment of our High-Density Hydro® storage system in the UK and overseas. With the BEIS contract in place, we will be seeking planning consent for our Devon project before the end of the year.” 

“We are also pursuing a number of project opportunities elsewhere in the UK, continental Europe and Canada.  Drawing upon our work in Devon and the Government’s welcome support, we expect to have our first 5MW grid-scale project in operation in 2026.” 

RheEnergise’s analysis of potential project opportunities has indicated that there are c6500 site opportunities in the UK, c115,000 in Europe, c345,000 in North America and c500,000 in Africa and the Middle East. 

The BEIS contract award coincides with RheEnergise seeking further private investment to support the commercialisation and deployment of its technology. Contact RheEnergise directly if you are interested in becoming a smaller direct investor. In addition, RheEnergise will hold a Series A funding round in early 2023 for corporates and venture capital funds. 

BEIS press release - Energy storage backed with over £32 million government funding

Longer Duration Energy Storage Demonstration Programme - Details of Successful Projects

Notes to Editors:

How the HD Hydro system works: at times of low energy demand, with associated low costs, the High-Density Fluid R-19™ is pumped uphill between storage tanks (buried underground). The storage tanks are connected by underground pipes. As energy prices rise, the non-corrosive fluid is released downhill and passes through turbines, generating electricity to supply power to the grid.  Projects will range from 5MW to 100MW of power and can work with vertical elevations as low as 100m or less. It means that, unlike conventional pumped hydro energy storage, a RheEnergise HD Hydro system can operate beneath small hills rather than mountains; the system requires 2½ times less vertical elevation. It also means that there are many more sites suitable for RheEnergise projects – in the UK and across the world. 

RheEnergise is active in Canada.  In July 2022, in partnership with Queen’s University in Ontario, it received a CAD$200,000 research grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the major federal agency responsible for funding engineering research in Canada.  And in September 2022, RheEnergise successfully completed field trials at a site in Quebec that validated the core proposition that its HD Hydro system provides the same power and best-of-class economics as conventional pumped hydro energy storage, but on a much smaller hill than the Devon site.     

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This funding has been made available from the Longer Duration Energy Storage Demonstration (LODES) Stream 2- Phase 2 competition, part of the Government’s £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, which looks to accelerate the commercialisation of low-carbon technologies and systems.