The inaugural Energy Storage Challenge 2011 took place at PitchLive on the 24th of October in the Business Design Centre in London, UK.
The pitching competition attracted an impressive number of international entries, with more than twenty five countries and six continents represented. Additionally, local competitions took place in Israel, India and China, with the winner of the local competitions joining the global finalists. More than 120 companies and organisations entered the 2011 Energy Storage Challenge.
Global finalists pitched their ideas to a panel of expert judges and the audience on the main stage. After an exciting juding session, Cella Energy was announce as the winner of the Energy Storage Challenge 2011 by Shawn Throne, Associate Director at the Office of Naval Research - Global. See below description of this year's finalists.
|
About
The Energy Storage Challenge 2011 (ESC) competition was seeking innovative ideas in energy storage technology from around the world. Entries are initally judged by energy storage experts in an online phase, enabled by OmniCompete's competition platform. The top ideas from each region are invited to compete in the Grand Final..
|
|
 |
Judging
Judging was carried out in three stages, two online stages followed by a global final. In total, over 45 judges, including stakeholders from government, industry and academia carefully reviewed each entry and gave vital feedback not only to those that had progressed to the next round but also for those companies and ideas which did not qualify.
|
Prize
The Energy Storage Challenge has a total prize fund of US$250,000.
|
 |
Finalists
|
|
Energy Storage Challenge 2011 Winner |
http://www.cellaenergy.com/ |
|
Cella Energy, based in the UK, has developed a unique patented technology in safe, low-cost hydrogen storage material. Cella is a spin-out company from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory RAL at Harwell, Oxford, UK. RAL is a UK Government facility, and if in the US would be equivalent to Argonne National Labs.
|
|
|
Energy Storage Challenge 2011 Finalist |
|
|
GeoMarine Biotech, based in the India, has developed an innovative idea in the use of biomaterials to store energy by taping several form of energy source into a single storage system using a biological energy trapping system. This essentially involves the duplication of various biological machinery such as photosystems, electron and proton pumps and storage (imagine how an electrical eel can store and produce 10000 V in one short!) The uniqueness of the system can be seen in the following ways: 1. Unlike the other energy storage systems which tap only one form of energy this system will tap any energy such as solar, electrical or wind or mechanical. 2. This storage device is integrated with the energy production source so that losses are minimized. 3. This has no equivalence in the current technology. 4. As it is a duplication of biological process, the energy efficiency is expected to go up more than 80% though it is an estimate.
|
|
|
Energy Storage Challenge 2011 Finalist |
|
|
Hydrostor, based in the Canada. Hydrostor's underwater compressed air electrical storage system (UWCAES) offers a low cost grid-scale solution. The system operates using low cost off-the-shelf equipment to store electricity in the form of compressed air below the surface of a body of water. The system has been designed for quick permitting, can be deployed in months not years, has a small on-shore footprint, lasts over 25 years, and is completely modular in terms of energy storage / charge time / discharge rate. The modular & temporary nature of the system distinguishes the design from other underground or underwater compressed air systems; and the use of water enables the system to be cheaper than aboveground compressed air systems.
|
|
|
Energy Storage Challenge 2011 Finalist |
|
|
SustainX, based in the U.S.A, has a transformative, patented energy-storage technology, Isothermal Compressed-Air Energy Storage (ICAES™), that uses electricity to compress air near-isothermally (i.e., at approximately constant temperature), stores it aboveground, and expands it near-isothermally to generate electricity. No fuel is involved. Their competitive advantage stems from proprietary thermodynamic innovations, mature industrial components, and ambient-temperature, nontoxic working fluids (air, water).
|
|
Energy Storage Challenge 2011 Finalist |
|
ITM Power, based in the U.K, has invented a low-cost membrane which represents a step-change reduction in permeation whilst retaining high conductivity. ITM has also developed a passive electrolyser with much-reduced parasitic power losses,and designed its passive electrolysers to be coupled with renewable power sources off-grid and has shown that hydrogen can be generated sustainably and efficiently despite variable power input. ITM has developed a modular format for its technology which fits easily into transportable freight containers, and believes that ultimately its technology can be used in transportable military or relief operations or in conjunction with fixed solar or wind farms where green hydrogen can be produced and transported to forecourts for delivery to hydrogen vehicles.
|
|
|
Energy Storage Challenge 2011 Finalist |
|
EnerVault, based in the U.S.A uses a redox flow battery (RFB) chemistry and proprietary design with inherent safety, robustness, operational flexibility, manufacturability, and cost structure that provide a low total cost of ownership. EnerVault’s patented stack and system design enables the use of low-cost materials, simplifies operation thereby reducing controls complexity, and also improves efficiency of a fundamentally safe and flexible core chemistry. These core technology improvements reduce system cost by 50%, increase system reliability, and reduce system efficiency losses by almost 20% compared to existing RFBs. EnerVault leverages the technology’s inherent advantages within a transportable and easily deployable package that is readily configurable for multiple applications.
|
|
Energy Storage Challenge 2011 Finalist |
|
Weizmann Institute of Sciences, based in Israel, have some novel ideas for increasing ZT, which are being actively pursued. They have stumbled upon a new concept, based on a three-terminal situation where two terminals are electronic and one only thermal.
|
|
|
|
