Gravitricity scores Czech mate for ‘virtual power plants’

Gravitricity recently announced plans to transform the former Darkov deep mine in the Czech Republic into a gravity energy store using its weight and winch technology. The firm has now signed an MOU with electricity flexibility aggregator Nano Energies to develop commercial routes to market for the site, including via virtual power plants - systems that bring together multiple electricity sources to provide grid balance. Virtual power plants can include cogeneration units, solar parks, biogas and biomass stations, as well as backup generators and demand-side response.

“The Czech Republic is our home market, and we are experts in the field of flexibility aggregation,” said Stanislav Chvála, CEO of Nano Energies. “Gravitricity's technology is able to respond to grid fluctuations very quickly and flexibly in terms of megawatt volume. We could thus involve them in our virtual power plants, which help balance the grid in the way that nowadays primarily coal and gas-fired power plants are able to do.