Storing energy mechanically on an industrial scale in pure high-pressure nitrogen and reusing it efficiently when needed is the declared goal of start up Hypnetic.
With the support of partners, including global technology group Parker Hannifin, and their established components, the first decentralised and industrially usable compressed air storage systems in Europe will be built from May, first in Lower Saxony and later in Saxony-Anhalt.
The company aims to expand all-round sustainable energy storage capacities for the energy transition towards solar and wind power, according to a statement coinciding with the Hannover Messe trade fair 2024, running until April 26.
Managing Director Alexander Börgel said, “Wherever industrial, cycle-intensive application combinations make sense, it will be impossible to avoid looking at the Hypnetic energy storage system instead of, or in combination with, a battery.”
Instead of the positional energy of large pumped storage power plants, the liquid used for loading and unloading experiences the counter-pressure of up to 350 bar with pure nitrogen.
With 10 metres of altitude corresponding to 1 bar of back pressure, the commercially available steel gas cylinders used in the Hypnetic energy storage system, which are intended for transporting technical gases, can replace an upper reservoir located 3.5 km vertically.
This means that power can be stored and released on an industrial scale in container format, even if there is no mountain of this size at the desired storage location.
The technology has been developed since 2019 by the three-person development team of Alexander Börgel, Niko Dalke and Eugen Zukin.
While Dalke and Zukin completed their Master’s degrees in mechatronics at Leibniz Universität Hannover and had not yet found a purpose for their technical skills, Börgel pushed ahead with founding the company based on his experience with Voltark.
With support from Leibniz Universität Hannover and Wirtschaftsförderung Hannover, the team managed to build the prototype of the technology in cooperation with the Institute for Electrical Energy Systems.
In subsequent extensive tests, it was shown that the compressed air energy storage unit had the ‘highest efficiency’ and at the same time the highest power density of all existing compressed air storage units.
Backed by these results, Hypnetic was able to arouse strong interest among medium-sized prosumer companies, for example companies from the manufacturing industry with their own photovoltaic systems.
With the Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Niedersachsen, the Hannover-Beteiligungs-Fonds and the NBank, established financing partners have also been found and two pilot projects have thus been bindingly planned.
Hypnetic’s two pilot energy storage systems will soon be open to visitors, and it is looking forward to planning more energy storage systems, in the megawatt range.
