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Schwungrad Energie’s official opening of its Hybrid flywheel-battery pilot.
Our Hybrid flywheel-battery pilot facility to provide system services was officially opened in Rhode, Co. Offaly on Wednesday November 9thth by Marcella Corcoran-Kennedy, TD Chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.
The opening of the Hybrid flywheel-battery plant represents significant progress as we have reached a major project and company milestone. The efforts of proficient local contractors such as RR Projects, Hayden Plant and Pat Howley Electrical have greatly assisted this stage of the project.
Approximately 40 jobs were provided in the construction phase of the pilot project, and we feel that it benefited the local economy in Rhode and the surrounding area. This benefit could be replicated at much larger scale should we progress to the 20 MW plant planned for the site.
Schwungrad Energie intend to explore other opportunities to generate local employment from our future projects. Already options have been identified for manufacturing, fabrication and assembly of some components locally and we are confident that this has major jobs potential for the future.
Pictured above, from left to right are; Barry Cowen (Spokesperson on Environment & Local Government), Donal Bourke (Yokogawa), Ogata Hiroyuki (Yokogawa), Hiroyuki Kusunose (Hitachi Chemical), Yoshihiro Nomura (Vice CEO Hitachi Chemical), Doireann Barry (EirGrid), His Excellency Mr. Chihiro Atsumi (Ambassador of Japan to Ireland), Simon Rogers (Managing Director, Yokogawa UK and Ireland), Nigel Reams (Schwungrad Energie), Tom Kelly (Divisional Manager for Cleantech, Electronics and Lifesciences Enterprise Ireland), Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Chair of Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation), Peter Duffy (Schwungrad Energie), John McCann (Programme Manager for Electricity and Wind, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland), Mr. Jing Ping (President of Liaoning Zhengbang Investment Group. Vice Chairman of Liaoning People’s Political Consultative Conference), Robert Lynch (University of Limerick), Colm Staunton (Schwungrad Energie), Liam Quinn (Local Councillor), Mervyn Keegan (Schwungrad Energie), Lea Collins (Schwungrad Energie), Frank Burke (Schwungrad Energie).
Speakers at the opening included:
Ms. Marcella Corcoran Kennedy – chair of Committee on Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation
Ambassador Atsumi – Ambassador of Japan to Ireland
Councillor Liam Quinn
Tom Kelly – Divisional Manager for Cleantech, Electronics and Lifesciences Enterprise Ireland
John McCann – Programme Manager for Electricity and Wind, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland
Mr. Barry Cowen – Spokesperson on Environment & Local Government
Mr. Declan Kirrane – Chief Executive of Offaly County Council
Mr. Yoshihiro Nomura – Vice CEO Hitachi Chemical
Mr Jing Ping – President of Liaoning Zhengbang Investment Group. Vice Chairman of Liaoning Peoples Political Consultative Conference.
Marcella Corcoran-Kennedy, TD said, “This is an exciting development in terms of clean energy technology and I want to wish Schwungrad Energie well with the project which has the potential to deliver large numbers of jobs downstream.”
A warm thank you is extended to all those who attended on the day and participated in the opening ceremony.
Schwungrad Energie welcomes our partners in China to the Emerald Isle
Schwungrad Energie were delighted to welcome our partners in China, Liaoning Zhengbang Investment Group, to the Hybrid flywheel-battery opening ceremony and to attend smart grid workshops with Ireland’s industry experts.
The Group’s President Mr. Jing Ping and his team as well as members of China State Grid attended meetings with Schwungrad to gain an insight into the Irish energy industry. Smart Grid Ireland hosted a workshop to enlighten our Chinese visitors on grid developments here in Ireland.
Ireland is advanced in terms of its penetration of renewable energy sources, particularly wind, and can be a model location to find solutions which assist and enable further renewables, to decarbonise our energy supply. Schwungrad Energie is at the forefront of developing hybrid solutions to improve the stability and increase the reliability of the electricity grid while accommodating the variable output from renewable sources.
Mr. Jing Ping addressed our guests at the opening ceremony and said that he is looking forward to working with Schwungrad in the future in China. “We are very impressed with the hybrid technology in this project. We think there are great opportunities for this technology in the Chinese market” said Mr. Jing Ping.
SME Instrument beneficiaries embark on a double Dutch business adventure
Schwungrad Energie were invited to attend a recent EASME event in Eindhoven. The EHV Summit is a yearly event dedicated to the Eindhoven start-up community to foster partnerships and share ideas. During the event, the SME instrument was present with a stand and provided information to potential applicants to the programme.
Between the 17th and 25th of October, eight companies funded by the SME instrument attended the biggest design event in Northern Europe displaying the work of more than 2400 designers and more than 250,000 visitors. Schwungrad Energie was one of the eight companies present and representative Jake Bracken felt it was a good opportunity to gain an insight into how other start ups incorporate design into their daily operations.
More information on the event can be found here
Partnership with Hitachi Chemical Co Ltd
Schwungrad Energie are commencing initial tests on a 400 kilowatt (kW) Hybrid flywheel-battery plant connected to the electrical grid to demonstrate the provision of fast acting stabilisation system services required by the evolving electricity grid.
Schwungrad Energie have partnered with Hitachi Chemical Co.,Ltd to integrate its Valve Regulated Lead Acid battery technology to produce an innovative hybrid system. Pictured below are Nigel and Jake at Hitachi Chemical headquarters.
The hybrid flywheel-battery will be connected to the electrical grid to provide further system services. The batteries will complement the flywheel technology which is supplies by Beacon Power. The battery technology was selected following research conducted at the department of Physics and Energy at the University of Limerick.
Following demonstration Schwungrad Energie intend to expand and install additional capacity to increase the system support capability connected to the electricity grid.
Schwungrad Energy then intend to scale up to a full commercial deployment of approximately 20 megawatts (MW) of the Hybrid flywheel-battery system. Schwungrad then plan to roll out the technology and install an additional 20 MW units at strategic locations in Ireland and across Europe where electrical grid system services are required by system operators.
Climate KICs Open Innovation Labs
Birmingham City University teamed up with Climate KIC to run an open innovation lab, focusing primarily on cleantech commercialization. This echoes Climate-KIC’s approach to breaking down siloes between sectors and disciplines, ensuring that those who have the motivation, capacity and skills to tackle problems relating to climate change through business activity are working together, enabling them to come up with sustainable, cutting-edge solutions.
Schwungrad were in attendance and networked with other Irish delegates on the program. Leachate Treatment Solutions, Orbis, SmartChange and Terrawatt were some of the other successful participants. Schwungrad representative at the event Jake Bracken noted that ‘Attending the Climate KICs Open Innovation Labs enabled us to take a step away from the Hybrid flywheel technology and identify different applications for the technology.’