Already the site of the world ’s mightiest nothingness turbines , and following its bonanza of crude and gun , the seam of the North Sea may offer a third way to baron Britain . Rocks beneath its waters have been show to have the potential drop to stash away months ' Charles Frederick Worth of energy , admit the UK , and maybe nearby nation , to run on renewable energy year - round .
Dr Julien Mouli - Castillo , of the University of Edinburgh , has essay North Sea geological records and noted the neighborhood is plentiful in porous sandstone aquifers that could hold enough flat air to power the nation for calendar month .
The tinny solar and wind ability get , the more aid turns to how to lay in the energy they create for menses of low production . As batteries come down in price , the challenge of salt away a nation ’s force overnight looks more and more achievable . Northern Europe , however , has the greatest requirement for electricity in winter , when solar power at high latitudes is of small use and wind alone may not be enough . A agency needs to be found to hive away office for month at a time .
Compressed tune could be the answer . The aviation is set under high pressure level when electricity is cheap , and is release to drive turbines when demand outstrips supplying . by nature , the system is much more low-priced if the storage container come pre - put up . Germany and the US have turned caverns within salt deposit to this determination . They work well , but the supply is limited tight to where the power is produced or consumed .
InNature Energy , Mouli - Castillo notes bombastic areas of the North Sea rest on porous rocks . The geology of the region is exceptionally well known because so much of it has been drilled for crude and accelerator pedal . make on a database of the 11,000 boring operations in Britain ’s offshore zona , Mouli - Castillo calculates there are enough suited website to store 77 - 96 terawatt hour , 10 times the capacitance of Britain ’s salt cavern .
This is tantamount to 160 percent of the electrical energy the UK uses in January and February each class , aquifers take with tight aura throughout the year using electricity from wind turbines located nearby could provide unafraid top executive all wintertime . The efficiency of storage is low compare to some choice . The paper reckon just 54 - 59 percentage of the energy produce would finally find its way to the power grid . By dividing line , pump hydro often has an efficiency of 80 pct and batteries over 90 pct , but the UK is too flat to support much hydropower .
As always the job is money . Moulid - Castillo estimates the price of storing a kilowatt 60 minutes to be $ 0.42 - 4.71 , around 10 multiplication the cost of shoreward storage . Nevertheless , if other choice are insufficient , offshore storehouse may be competitive with nuclear power , and sure enough gaudy than climate change .
