Our energy storage
TECHNOLOGY

is in a class of its own.

We’ve created a method to store energy at just $5/kWh.

Scroll to see how we do it.

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. Additionally, all onshore oil and gas companies are held accountable by state-based regulatory bodies to ‘plug and abandon’ (P&A) every well after it has become idle. Once the Gravity Well system is recognized as a way to pause the countdown to when an idle well must be plugged and abandoned, Renewell will sell an activation for each well converted. There is also the potential to earn carbon credits for any well that was previously leaking methane

Solve 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 inactive 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 and high-density filling. It is suspended by wire rope in an inactive well that we seal before installation. An ultra-high-efficiency motor-generator converts the system’s mechanical energy to electrical energy for use on the grid.

Inactive 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 emissions. US wells average ~6,000ft of depth, greatly increasing (>10x vs. competitors) the storage potential of each kg 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 200 kWh per well in over 1,000,000 viable US wells, this technology maximizes benefits from economies of scale.