New South Wales start-up Green Gravity says it has secured $9 million in funding for its gravitational energy storage technology that it hopes to deploy in disused mines in Australia and overseas.
Green Gravity’s energy storage system works on the same principal as pumped hydro, but proposes – rather than water – to move heavy weights vertically in legacy mine shafts to capture and release the gravitational potential energy of the weights. It says the technology will be low-cost, long life, and “environmentally compelling”.
The company completed a 12-metre-high prototype at an industrial site in Wollongong July of 2023, and on the basis of this says it has raised $9 million in a Series A funding round from investors including HMC Capital, BlueScopeX, Pacific Channel, and Sumisho Coal.
Green Gravity intends to use the funding to develop the engineering and physical testing of the system at suitable scales to enable future commercial deployments.
“This funding round, backed by a world class syndicate of investors, demonstrates the game changing impact Green Gravity is having on the renewable energy storage landscape,” said Mark Swinnerton, founder and CEO of Green Gravity.
“This unique blend of global technology knowledge, Australian manufacturing credentials, mining services expertise, and large-scale listed infrastructure investment capacity will set us up for success as we move decisively to deploy this innovative clean energy solution.”
“The testing and engineering development Green Gravity has conducted over the past year has validated the attractive cost and sustainability profile of the technology.
“We expect to configure the gravitational storage technology for mid-duration storage applications of 4 to 24 hours, deliver 80% energy efficiency and to enable reuse of critical grid infrastructure.
“With more than 80 deployment options in review, we expect to make a major contribution to decarbonising the energy grid in the coming years.”
