Amber Kinetics and Global Energy Giant Enel S.p.A. Announce Agreement to Assess Innovative Flywheel Storage Technology
Amber Kinetics, Inc., developer of the first commercially available four-hour duration flywheel energy storage technology, and Enel, one of the world’s leading integrated utilities with a presence in more than 30 countries across five continents, have signed a two-year agreement to cooperate on jointly assessing Amber Kinetics’ innovative technology and to explore the possible development of future projects.
Enel continuously pursues highly efficient, sustainable operations by means of best available technologies based on a cost-benefit approach. Toward that goal, the company will measure and demonstrate the performance of Amber Kinetics’ flywheel energy storage systems, beginning with two of the company’s M32 model (8kW/32kWh) flywheel storage systems which will be installed at Amber Kinetics’ test facility in California.
Upon successful completion of the three-month demonstration, to identify possible full-scale business applications of the technology, Enel will evaluate the implementation of Amber Kinetics’ next generation flywheel energy storage technology, the M160 model (40kW/160kWh), in one of its thermal power plants.
“We are very excited to be collaborating with a company as forward-thinking and devoted to sustainable energy as Enel,” noted Ed Chiao, Amber Kinetics’ co-founder and CEO. “Having such a highly regarded and financially solid partner will allow us to more rapidly achieve our vision of providing a work horse option for flexible energy storage solutions around the globe. We look forward to a highly productive collaboration.”
Amber Kinetics’ flywheel energy storage systems are currently being purchased by customers around the world who are seeking to reduce electricity costs and/or improve unreliable electricity service by utilizing affordable, sustainable and robust utility-scale and micro-grid energy storage. The demand is particularly strong in islanded nations and regions with unreliable to non-existent electricity grids, where renewable generation plus reliable electricity storage represents the best option for stable electricity growth.
Amber Kinetics’ long-duration all-steel flywheel has advantages over battery and conventional peaking resources for demand reduction, energy arbitrage, renewable energy firming, and frequency regulation at both grid and micro-grid scales. The flywheels incur no capacity degradation, have unlimited daily cycling capability and $0 variable O&M for 24/7 service. In addition, the flywheel energy storage systems are highly efficient, fully recyclable at end-of-life, and carry no hazardous materials risk.
About Amber Kinetics
Headquartered in Union City, CA, Amber Kinetics began shipping its flywheels commercially in September 2016. To date, the company’s fleet of demonstration and commercial units has accumulated 19,000+ hours of continuous run time domestically and abroad. The company has contracted for 2017 delivery of its flywheel technology to customers in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Africa and the Philippines. For more information, visit www.amberkinetics.com.
