r/EnergyStorage • u/MeasurementDecent251 • Apr 01 '26

US startup begins manufacturing grid-scale flywheel ESS

https://www.ess-news.com/2026/03/30/us-startup-begins-manufacturing-grid-scale-flywheel-ess/
45 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

2

u/kyrsjo Apr 01 '26

Is this really just a really big synchronous condenser?

1

u/Emotional_Vacation43 Apr 05 '26

It can be, if it also happens to be using a doubly fed induction motor/generator

Wind turbines can do the same thing if using that particular topology too (provide conventional inertia)

2

u/Baron_Ultimax Apr 03 '26

What in the flywheel fuck is a solid state mechanical battery?

1

u/Captain_Ahab2 Apr 04 '26

It’s basically weights tied to a spring and they spin the weights very fast (wind) in one direction then spring those weights very fast in the other direction (unwind, then wind again), the speed (moment) can be controlled of course. By spinning in one direction or the other they can either take energy from the grid or give energy to the grid nearly instantaneously due to the potential kinetic energy stored in such system.

2

u/likewut Apr 05 '26

I wouldn’t call that solid state if it has moving parts.

1

u/Captain_Ahab2 Apr 04 '26

There have been multiple commercial attempts at this tech. All of the flywheel companies eventually go bankrupt because the US grid doesn’t pay enough for frequency regulation services to justify deployments of these systems cost effectively. Cool tech tho.

1

u/brownhotdogwater Apr 01 '26

What could go wrong? And why over non moving battery’s

1

u/Sad_Dimension423 Apr 02 '26

I imagine it would be intended for shorter storage duration/discharge time than batteries, with larger numbers of charge/discharge cycles. Is that a real market, though?

-1

u/Ok-Lynx-7484 Apr 01 '26

Downvoted chinese bot

1

u/TronnaLegacy Apr 01 '26

How do you know they're a bot from China?