Week 6

At my internship, in addition to the tasks I have been assigned, I have also been given creative freedom to work on my own independent project that will eventually turn into a industry insight that I will publish on behalf of the company. I figured out very early on in my internship where my interests lied, battery storage, and within this subdivision I knew I wanted to write about gravity storage. Gravity storage is a new and innovative form of energy storage just starting to take off that uses the simplest form of energy storage we have, potential and kinetic energy. Some gravity storage startups take the form of cranes stacking massive concrete blocks, others involve heavy cylinders being raised and lowered with pumped water, another uses train carts filled with heavy materials that goes up and down a slope. What these projects all have in common is a low levalized cost of energy, high efficiency rates, long life spans, and the ability to be deployed in any geographic location. Unlike pumped hydro, the most common form of battery storage, almost all of these projects can be built in any city or landscape, making them accessible where energy is needed. When researching this topic I found a good amount of information on the company website, but no 3rd party organization in the energy sector has really given consideration to this emerging technology. I found a few academic papers and an economic analysis, but outside of that there was little to be found. This is how I’ve had the opportunity to talk to and interview several CEOs of the top gravity storage companies to learn more about their technology, future projects, and how they differ from the competition. I am still conducting these interviews and continue to learn more each time. Ultimately, at the end of my internship I will have a concrete report on the gravity storage industry, something that no other market research or consulting company has completed, and hope that my work will bring more attention and hopefully business to the gravity storage market, as it stands to be the key piece in helping achieve renewable goals while increasing grid reliability and solving intermittence issues.