Systems design and energy technology company Faraday Grid is “unashamedly seeking to change the course of history” with the launch of its prototype Faraday Exchanger, which it says can be used to integrate significantly high levels of renewable energy onto the grid.
The technology, intended to be integrated into existing electricity networks, smooths out the volatility of intermittent renewables by regulating electricity voltage, power factor and frequency within a single device that.
Faraday Grid says this could enable as much as 107TWh of additional renewable generation in the UK at no additional cost.
Andrew Scobie, executive chairman of the Australian company, said: “With the launch of the Faraday Exchanger, we are unashamedly seeking to change the course of history enabling society to integrate and access much more clean and affordable renewable energy than ever before.
“Widespread adoption of the Exchanger could generate a saving of more than £30 on the average UK household electricity bill as well as make significant annual carbon savings in the many millions of tonnes.
“The ultimate benefit of this technology is that it serves and delivers on the most pressing economic and environmental needs of our society.”
Each Exchanger is expected to be able to address variations in power supply typical of renewable generation sources while simultaneously ensuring continuity of energy supply through dynamic balancing of power flows, with each operating independently of any central control network.
Flexible clean energy infrastructure developer Amp is a principal strategic investor in Faraday’s proprietary technology. According to executive chairman Paul Ezekiel, who also serves as non-executive director of Faraday Grid, the Exchanger could have a significant impact on energy systems with rising levels of renewable generation.
“Amp invested in Faraday Grid because we can see how the technology can fundamentally change the dispatch stack for renewable energy assets in markets where there is high penetration of intermittent renewables,” he said.
“The Faraday Grid enables a significant increase in the integration of renewables into the energy mix so that renewables can be the cornerstone of our ability to deliver flexible clean energy solutions to our grid and industrial customers.”
