Our energy storage
TECHNOLOGY
is in a class of its own.
We’ve created a method to store energy at just $5/kWh.
Our Approach.
Leverage pre-existing infrastructure:
Renewell leverages pre-existing infrastructure (wellbore vertical drop, electrical infrastructure from previous pumpjacks, communications networks, and roads) to create the lowest cost energy storage on the market (capital cost = $5/kWh). We retrofit already grid-connected inactive wells with a proprietary gravity-based mechatronic energy conversion system and an intelligent controls platform for remote monitoring and control.
Create revenue for well owners:
Energy storage services will generate revenue for the 30 year lifetime of each Gravity Well system. Renewell pays a portion of this revenue to the well owner as a way to rent the wellbore. There is also the potential to earn carbon credits for any well that was previously leaking methane.
Mitigate environmental liabilities:
In an ideal world idle wells wouldn’t be plugged and abandoned, they would be plugged and monitored. Not only is a Gravity Well plugged above the depleted reservoir, there is also a suite of sensors on each well ensuring an unprecedented level of insight into its status. Renewell’s operations represent no significant risk to the integrity of the casing or plug for the 30 year system lifetime.
A Closer Look.
Renewell’s “Gravity Well” technology utilizes a mechatronic energy conversion system to convert idle oil and gas wells into the lowest cost, greenest energy storage in existence. A Gravity Well charges and discharges by lifting and lowering a long cylindrical weight, which consists of used oilfield tubing or casing and high-density filling. It is suspended by wire rope in an idle well that is sealed with a cement plug before installation. An ultra-high-efficiency motor-generator converts the system’s potential energy to electrical energy for use on the grid.
Idle oil and gas wells are an ideal host for gravity energy storage due to their depth, expensive plug and abandonment (P&A), pre-existing electrical infrastructure, and current methane emissions. US wells average ~5,200ft of depth, greatly increasing (>10x vs. competitors) the storage potential of each kilogram of suspended weight. Combining this high-value storage with the high-cost, legally required P&A process offers the lowest cost energy storage available (LCOS = $63/MWh). Up to 40% of idle wells have been found to leak methane. Sealing the well during installation stops these emissions, making a Gravity Well the only energy storage technology with directly net-negative lifecycle GHG emissions.
Offering 40 to 500 kWh per well in over 1,000,000 viable US wells, this technology maximizes benefits from economies of scale.