Industry applications of flywheel energy storage

Flywheel energy storage systems (FESS) are considered environmentally friendly short-term energy storage solutions due to their capacity for rapid and efficient energy storage and release, high power density, and long-term lifespan. These attributes make FESS suitable for integration into power systems in a wide range of applications.

Moreover, flywheel energy storage system array (FESA) is a potential and promising alternative to other forms of ESS in power system applications for improving power system efficiency, stability and security . However, control systems of PV-FESS, WT-FESS and FESA are crucial to guarantee the FESS performance.

Flywheels with the main attributes of high energy efficiency, and high power and energy density, compete with other storage technologies in electrical energy storage applications, as well as in transportation, military services, and space satellites .

The most common applications of flywheels in electrical energy storage are for uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and power quality improvement [10, 11, 12]. For these applications, the electrochemical battery is highly mismatched and suffers from an insufficient cycle life, since the number of cycles per day is usually too high .

One energy storage technology now arousing great interest is the flywheel energy storage systems (FESS), since this technology can offer many advantages as an energy storage solution over the alternatives.

A flywheel energy storage unit is a mechanical system designed to store and release energy efficiently. It consists of a high-momentum flywheel, precision bearings, a vacuum or low-pressure enclosure to minimize energy losses due to friction and air resistance, a motor/generator for energy conversion, and a sophisticated control system.