New energy battery height from the ground

Will Energy Vault transform tall buildings into 'Big batteries'?

In May 2024, Energy Vault, a company specializing in grid-scale energy storage, announced a global partnership with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) to transform tall buildings and superstructures into ‘big batteries’ using the technology called gravity energy storage systems (GESS).

Can tall buildings be turned into 'Big batteries'?

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Could a skyscraper battery work?

Two energy storage experts contacted by CNN questioned if the economics of a skyscraper battery could work, given the space that would need to be used for energy storage and the structural changes that would be needed to support the extra weight. But Energy Vault and SOM are confident their solutions are commercially viable.

Can gravity energy storage help build tall buildings?

As shown in this render, energy storage company Energy Vault, along with Skidmore, Owens & Merrill, the architecture and engineering firm behind some of the world's tallest buildings, is integrating gravity energy storage technology into building designs. Tall buildings are SOM’s specialty.

Could solar power raise a weight up to a tall skyscraper?

The proposal features two particularly notable ideas. The first brings to mind research from the likes of Gravitricity and IISA, and would use excess energy – whether from renewable sources like solar or from a standard power grid – to raise a weight up to the top of a very tall skyscraper.

How do gravity batteries work?

These weights are then lowered during peak hours, converting potential energy back into electricity through a system of pulleys and actuators to harness gravity and drive turbines, using regenerative braking systems. The first commercially operational gravity battery system, built by Energy Vault, recently joined the Chinese power grid.