Using Flywheels to Meet Peak Power Grid Demands

hackertourist writes "A novel type of electricity storage was recently added to the New York power grid. The unit, supplied by Beacon Power, uses flywheels to store energy. This system is intended to replace gas turbines in supplying short-term peaks in power demand (also known as frequency regulation). It can supply up to 20 MW, using 200 flywheels." If you can't afford a 200-flywheel system, you can always get a racetrack-ready Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, which has a single energy-storage flywheel that can give you a 160 HP burst of power when you need a little extra oomph.

Comments

Re:New tech?

[TheRaven64]

One of my physics teachers at school used to work in a power station for a bit. He showed us some pictures of a 'fuse' that they used. When I think of a fuse, I think of a small, thin, piece of wire. This was a large copper bar. He also had some pictures from when it blew - the entire bar was vaporised. When people talk about MWs and GWs, the numbers don't seem real. When you see lumps of copper being instantly turned to gas, you get a real feeling for the amount of power involved.