Energy Vault signs new deal in South Africa

Swiss-based company Energy Vault has found new partners in South Africa for its idea of using concrete blocks to store energy, which can be recovered as electricity when the blocks are lowered. The Gravity Energy Storage Solutions (GESSOL) consortium plans to develop the idea alongside hydrogen and battery storage in South Africa.

Les Lange, director at GESSOL said, “Southern Africa is a rapidly developing region with increasing energy demand, which historically has been met with coal-fired plants. Economic development in the SADC region is critical for improving quality of life, but we need to rapidly wean the region off of coal to simultaneously reduce carbon emissions and grow our economy.”

He added, “Energy storage is critical for the scale-up of clean, baseload renewable energy in the SADC region and we are confident that with Energy Vault’s GESS and energy management software, as well as its broader energy storage portfolio that can address both shorter and ultra-long duration, we can achieve this objective.”