Power system offers bags of energy

Nimrod Energy has been launched by Prof Seamus Garvey to further the development of the Integrated Compressed Air Renewable Energy Systems (ICARES), which he has been involved with since early 2006.

The technology is centred on a simple premise - using giant wind turbines to compress and pump air into huge undersea Energy Bags anchored to the seabed - or geological formations where deep water is not available.

The high-pressure air would then be expanded in special turbo-generator sets to provide electricity as required - not just when the wind is blowing. It would see vast floating offshore ’energy farms’ created off the coastline around the UK.

Over the past year, Prof Garvey’s research has proven that by using huge offshore wind turbines, the total amount of structural material per kW of rated power can be slashed, effectively cutting costs by a factor of four or more. He believes it is possible to store energy at costs well below £10,000/MWh - less than 20 per cent of pumped hydro energy, the cheapest competing technology.