SBIR Phase I: Third Generations Flywheels for Electricity Storage

Launchpoint Technologies, Inc., Goleta CA

Investigators

Abstract

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will design and test the motor/generator subsystem for a magnetically levitated electricity storage flywheel, scalable to megawatt-hours per unit, with the potential to greatly reduce US economic losses due to electric power fluctuations and blackouts. According to the Electric Power Research Institute, these losses exceed $100 billion/year. The company's research objective is to develop low cost third generation flywheels - "Power Rings" - with enormous power and capacity in a compact size. Multi-megawatt-hour units appear feasible. Anticipated results of this Phase I project are the design of a high power density motor/generator integrated into the Power Ring design, a dynamic analysis of its effects on ring stability, and a working small-scale version of the motor/generator. Opposition to new transmission lines and power plants, environmental restrictions, and exorbitant costs have slowed system improvements. Electricity storage flywheels could provide a clean, economical alternative and slash economic losses if they had much higher power and capacity than the present limit of a few hundred kW and a few kWh. But high capacity first generation (steel) flywheels are too massive to be cost effective and second generation (composite) flywheels cannot be scaled up.