Finland installs the world's first sand cell system

A group of young engineers from Polar Night Energy has completed the world's first fully functional "sand cell" commercial installation in the town of Kankaanpää, Finland, BBC reported on July 4. The new equipment is located at the Vatajankoski power plant, which operates the region's heating system.

Sand cell has been installed and working well at Kankaanpää.

Climate change and rising fossil fuel prices cause many organizations and companies to invest in renewable energy production. Solar panels and wind turbines can quickly be installed and contribute to the grid, but they also present enormous challenges.

The hardest problem is the interruption - how to maintain electricity when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing? In addition, adding more renewable energy to the grid also needs to be accompanied by grid balancing solutions, as too much or too little electricity can lead to bad consequences.

An effective remedy for these problems is a large-scale battery system with the ability to store and balance energy needs. Currently, most batteries are made of lithium and are very expensive, large in size, and can only handle a small amount of excess electricity.

Sand batteries can store green energy for months. The key component of this device is about 100 tons of sand piled up inside a silo (a tall, round tower usually used to store grain or feed for livestock).

The battery works like this: Cheap excess electricity heats the sand up to 500 degrees Celsius by resistive heating. This process creates hot air circulating in the sand by means of a heat exchanger. Sand is a very efficient heat storage medium with little loss over time. The development team says their device can keep sand at 500 degrees Celsius for several months.

When needed, the battery discharges hot air, warming the water for the area's heating system. The water is then pumped to homes, offices, and even swimming pools. This method helps to solve heat source concerns during the long cold Finnish winters.

One of the big challenges right now with Polar Night Energy is whether sand cell technology can scale to really make a difference, and if developers can use it to generate electricity as well as heat. or not?

The experts found a significant reduction in efficiency when sand was used just to return stored electricity to the grid. However, storing green energy in the form of heat for long periods of time is of great benefit to industry, as most of the heat used for food, beverages, textiles and pharmaceuticals comes from burning fossil fuels. .