We can’t go on like this.

The polar ice caps are disappearing. The first islands are drowning. On a drive across the country (ours, Germany), count how many dried-up trees you can see. We have to stop burning coal, gas, and oil. That includes power generation.

There has already been some success: here in Germany, around half of our electrical energy is now generated by wind and solar power plants. But why are new gas-fired power plants still being planned, why should coal-fired power plants remain on the grid for so long?

The answer is simple. When the sun shines and the wind blows, more than enough electricity can be generated. But the wind does not always blow, and the sun cannot be relied upon every day. Fossil-fueled power plants are still intended to fill in the gaps.

The replacement of these power plants is still an unresolved issue.

The unresolved Issue

The task is challenging. We need storage technology for really large amounts of energy. The sheer size of the amount of energy to be stored is not the only problem. The storage facilities would also have to be affordable and have a high efficiency rating (over 85%).

You may have noticed that there is currently an “enormous” increase in investment in electricity storage, whether through the installation of batteries for small solar systems or medium-sized industrial facilities. By “enormous,” these reports meant an increase of approximately 500 GWh in 2025 (in germany). However, we need a storage capacity of 20,000–40,000 GWh for a stable power supply for a country of in a size of germany. An additional 200,000 GWh is needed to provide heating in winter (for a country at a similiar latitude and size like germany).

There is no technology on the market yet that could handle this task. Only concepts of varying degrees of poor quality.

Poor concepts

All energy storage technologies proposed to date have at least one disadvantage that is so serious that it prevents them from solving the actual problem. Here are a few examples:

  • Lithium-ion batteries: The efficiency is great and cars run quite well on them, but calculate how much it costs to buy batteries with a total capacity of 20,000 GWh for a country like Germany and what the electricity price would then be. Not to mention the problem of obtaining a sufficient amount of lithium.
  • Pumped storage power plants: They are sufficiently efficient and cost-effective. But we can’t flood half of our Countries to get away from coal.
  • Hydrogen and hydrogen-containing energy carrier materials: The overall efficiency is less than 50%. More than half of the energy is lost during storage.

… to be continued.

Our concept.

GroNaS is the abbreviation for “Großer Natrium-Schwefel-Speicher” (large sodium-sulfur storage). We have specifically designed our concept to completely replace the fossil fuel industry. Our Concept makes it possible to store really large amounts of electricity without the costs spiraling out of control.

  • Power capacity: 20 – 1000 MW
  • Storage capacity 2 – 28 weeks: To ensure a secure electricity supply, we need storage facilities that can supply electricity for two weeks at a time. For future heating production: throughout the entire winter.
  • Compact design: A GroNaS storage plant, including the tank facility for the energy carrier materials, fits on the site of a coal-fired power plant that is no longer needed.
  • Energy carrier materials: Sodium and sulfur. Practically unlimited availability. It would be no problem to store several times the annual electrical energy production of the entire world with these materials.
  • Efficiency: 85% – 90%.
  • Emission-free operation.
  • Environmental impact and operational risk: Low. The risks are comparable to those of an oil refinery.
  • Storage price: approx. 0.1 €/kWh.
  • Electricity production price in a network of wind and solar power plants: 0.16 €/kWh. Coal-fired power plants currently cost 0.21 €/kWh. With storage according to our concept, the price of electricity will therefore fall again.

As part of our development work, we further want to reduce the plant price for GroNaS storage plants. The goal is to store electricity in summer and to use it to operate heat pumps in winter at heating costs similar to those for gas.

GroNaS-Energy-Storage-ConceptDownload

Contact