Ocean Grazer’s Ocean Battery is a scalable, modular solution for utility-scale energy storage that is produced by renewable sources such as wind turbines and floating solar farms at sea.
Ocean Grazer B.V. develops energy storage solutions, such as the Ocean Battery, for the offshore renewable energy sector. It is a Dutch start-up and a spinoff from the University of Groningen.
The company’s innovations focus on integrating multiple renewable sources together with on-site storage technology.
Offshore renewable energy is crucial for reaching net zero goals
Producing renewable energy is crucial for a climate-neutral economy, however, the transition requires a huge change in the energy system.
More solar and wind turbine parks are being utilised onshore and offshore to contribute to a sustainable society.
The planned global production of offshore wind, for the year 2050, exceeds 1150 gigawatts. Soon, weather conditions will dictate the timing of renewable energy production, causing large fluctuations.
To grow to a system where renewable energy is the norm, the biggest hurdle must be solved: energy storage. Ocean Grazer is tapping into this huge potential of renewable energy by introducing the Ocean Battery. The battery puts the company at the forefront of meeting future utility-scale energy storage needs.
The Ocean Battery
The Ocean Battery is a pumped hydro system in a box that provides eco-friendly utility-scale energy storage up to GWh scale.
The mechanism is based on hydro dam technology, that has proven itself for over a century as highly reliable and efficient, and currently provides 95% of the global utility scale energy storage capacity.
To store energy, the system pumps water from the rigid reservoirs into the flexible bladders on the seabed. Now the energy is stored as potential energy in the form of water under high pressure. When there is a demand for power, water flows back from the flexible bladders to the low-pressure rigid reservoirs, driving multiple hydro turbines to generate electricity.
Some of the unique advantages of the Ocean Battery include:
- Offshore storage: Ocean Battery provides utility-scale energy storage at the source to be deployed in new and existing wind farms. This can reduce local peak loads in the network and optimally match supply and demand;
- Reliability and affordability: By applying proven hydro dam technology, the battery guarantees a long lifetime of decades and a high round-trip efficiency of up to 80%; and
- Eco-friendly: The Ocean Battery does not require rare earth elements and uses clean water as the energy carrier, with the structure being designed to enhance marine life.
