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Since the Alps cover almost two-thirds of Switzerland’s landmass and provide numerous large mountain lakes and artificial reservoirs that are suitable for hydro power, the country’s electricity sector primarily depends on hydroelectricity.
Solar power is best used during daylight hours, when demand is usually highest (see duck curve). Interest in storing power from these intermittent sources grows as the renewable energy sector begins to generate a larger portion of total energy consumption.
The Switzerland Energy Storage Market accounted for $XX Billion in 2023 and is anticipated to reach $XX Billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of XX% from 2024 to 2030.
Switzerland has unveiled its most recent innovation in renewable energy: a colossal water battery. The water battery, which is called Nant de Drance and started operating, is a pumped storage hydropower plant that has the same energy storage capacity as 400,000 electric car batteries.
Morand, a Swiss technology startup, has launched a hybrid energy storage system that creates “a durable and ultra-fast energy pack that can be usefully recharged in seconds” by combining the characteristics of an ultracapacitor with those of a chemical battery.
Its technology is made for applications that need to be charged frequently in less than five minutes. Small city electric vehicles, drones, e-bikes, e-scooters, and robotics are some of the applications.
The hybrid ultracapacitor (HUC) cells used in Morand’s eTechnology packs are provided by Swiss ultracapacitor specialist Sech through an exclusive partnership.
Morand’s system was tested independently by Geo Technology and was able to recharge a 7.2 kWh test unit to 98% in 120 seconds at up to 900 A/360 kW.
“While there are numerous technologies that can charge and discharge rapidly, they are almost always limited by the number of cycles they can perform before capacity degradation,” Morand says.
Our eTechnology’s capacity to complete more than 50,000 cycles has been demonstrated by testing. The longest-running test unit is presently moving toward 70,000 cycles.”
eTechnology, in contrast to conventional lithium-ion battery packs, requires very little lithium or cobalt. Aluminum, graphene, and carbon make up the majority of its components, though some lithium is used. The units will be manufactured by Morand and a production partner, and the company already has ambitious plans to increase production.
The goal of the business is to bring eTechnology’s prices close to those of lithium-ion solutions. In addition, Morand asserts that its system can deliver five to ten times more discharge cycles than a comparable lithium-ion system, resulting in significantly lower long-term operational costs.
Switzerland’s new energy asset: a hydro plant with a capacity to charge 400,000 car batteries. With an underground hydropower project that has the capacity to store enough electricity to concurrently charge 400,000 car batteries, Switzerland is introducing a much-needed cog to its energy supply.
The 2.2 billion Swiss franc Nant de Drance plant in the canton of Valais, which started operating in July, was built by its developers. One of the most potent pumped storage plants in Europe, its six turbines, hidden in a cavern 600 metres below ground between the Emosson and Vieux Emosson reservoirs, have a capacity of 900 MW.
Nant de Drance uses hydropower to generate electricity at periods of high demand. However, when demand is greater than supply from renewable energy sources like solar and wind, the plant stores the extra electricity by pumping water into the higher Vieux Emosson reservoir.
The transition from full pumping mode to full power generation takes less than five minutes. The amount of water flowing through its turbines at 360 cubic metres per second is equivalent to the Rhone river’s summer flow through Geneva.
