Flywheel Systems for Utility Scale Energy Storage, A Transformative Flywheel Project for Commercial Readiness

The rapid growth of renewable energy sources like photovoltaic solar and wind generation is
driving the need for cost-effective energy storage to capture energy during peak generation
periods so it can be used during peak demand periods. The available solutions today have many
drawbacks including environmental impacts, safety hazards, declining capacity, high
maintenance requirements, limited operating conditions, and grid management constraints. The
kinetic energy storage system based on advanced flywheel technology from Amber Kinetics
maintains full storage capacity throughout the product lifecycle, has no emissions, operates in
a wide range of environmental conditions, and is fully recyclable at the end of life.
This project has advanced the commercial readiness of flywheel technology by enhancing the
product design, confirming performance and reliability, advancing manufacturing processes,
validating the safety criteria, and demonstrating the management of a multi-unit array. More
than 15 flywheel units have been tested with the fleet accumulating more than 38,000 hours of
operating history. Numerous design and manufacturing enhancements emerged from this
process. Multiple failure modes were intentionally induced to experimentally confirm the safety
of the system design. And operations of paralleled flywheel arrays capable of achieving utilityscale
deployment have been demonstrated.