Turning abandoned mines into batteries

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Mining Journalist

May 29, 2023

(https://miningmagazine.com.au/turning-

abandoned-mines-

into-batteries/) Rehabilitation
Features, Mine to repurpose:
 rehabilitation, Projects,  approaches to
Sustainability 0  post-mining
land use

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By Julian David Hunt, Research Scholar in the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis’ Energy, Climate, and Envir

As companies turn away from traditional thermal power capacity to embrace greener energy production options, mines across t
decommissioned and closed, leaving operators scrambling to Ind another use for them. A novel technique called Underground
by a team of researchers from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), turns decommissioned mines in
solutions, thereby supporting the sustainable energy transition.

Renewable energy sources are central to the energy transition toward a more sustainable future. However, as sources like sunsh
variable and inconsistent, Inding ways to store energy in an accessible and eQcient way is crucial. While there are many effect
storage – the most common being batteries – a cost-effective, long-term solution is still lacking.
In a new IIASA-led study, an international team of researchers developed a novel way to store energy by transporting sand into a
The new technique, called Underground Gravity Energy Storage (UGES), proposes an effective long-term energy storage solution
defunct mining sites, which likely number in the millions globally.

The researchers released a paper detailing their Indings and delving into the various elements of UGES.

How UGES generate electricity

UGES is a gravitational energy storage technology that consists of Illing an underground mine with sand to generate electricity
and then removing the sand from the mine to store energy when electricity is cheap.

UGES generates electricity when the price is high by lowering sand into an underground mine and converting the potential energ
regenerative braking, and then lifting the sand from the mine to an upper reservoir using electric motors to store energy when el

The main components of UGES are the shaft, motor/generator, upper and lower storage sites, and mining equipment (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Underground Gravity Energy Storage system: a schematic of different system

sections.

The crucial components of UGES

The UGES shaft has variable depths and diameters – the deeper and broader the mine shaft, the more power can be extracted f
more space in the shaft, the higher the plant’s capacity.

To maximise power capacity, the sand containers in the shaft occupy around 50 per cent of the shaft’s volume. The other 50 pe
Illing and emptying the containers with sand. To reduce the costs and number of cables to support the sand containers and the
motor/generator, we propose several motors/generators throughout the shaft.
The containers in Figure 2 are independent, i.e. each module can be put into operation or removed independently (to complete l
that the system does not stop due to the putting in or removal of carriers.

In addition to independence, the container must enable rapid loading and unloading of heavy objects (sand). So we consider se
can be similar to ski lift stations.

The containers applied in the shaft are foldable to optimise the utilisation of the shaft.

During storage mode, the sand is removed from the container on the shaft’s top and then returned to the bottom of the shaft to
folded to occupy the least space on the shaft, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: (a) Foldable container to optimise the utilisation of the shaft (b) motor/generator sheaves to increase traction
(side view), and (c) rotor and generator.

Foldable containers that are not completely sealed could leak sand during operation. This would cause energy loss and damage
the shaft.

To mitigate this problem, we propose foldable containers with inner bags as carriers, where the bags act as liners for the foldab
space-saving foldable carrier while preventing the safety hazard of sand leakage.

SpeciGcs of UGES motors and generators

The motor/generators are installed on both sides of the mine shaft, as shown in Figure 1. They should be installed on top of the
minimise the risk of damage.

The total power capacity of the plant consists of the sum of the capacity of all motors/generators. Other advantages of having
motors/generators with a small capacity are easy to Ind in the market and are cheap.

It should be noted that the motors in Figure 2 are electrically connected in parallel to ensure the independence of each motor in
motor/generator brakes or requires maintenance, the others can continue operation.

Depending on the power requirements for energy storage, the system can alter the lift’s speed. The lift can raise its speed if the
it might lower the system’s overall eQciency.
Lead author of the study and researcher in the IIASA Energy, Climate, and Environment Program, Julian Hunt, said, “When a min
workers. This devastates communities that rely only on the mine for their economic output.

“UGES would create a few vacancies as the mine would provide energy storage services after it stops operations.

“Mines already have the basic infrastructure and are connected to the power grid, which signiIcantly reduces the cost and facil
plants.”

Other energy storage methods, like batteries, lose energy via self-discharge over long periods. The energy storage medium of U
no energy lost to selfdischarge, enabling ultra-long time energy storage ranging from weeks to several years.

The investment costs of UGES are about US$1-US$10/kWh and power capacity costs of US$2.000/kW. The technology is estim
seven to 70TWh, with most of this potential concentrated in China, India, Russia, and the US.

Behnam Zakeri, study co-author and researcher in the IIASA Energy, Climate, and Environment Program, said, “To decarbonise th
energy system based on innovative solutions using existing resources.

“Turning abandoned mines into energy storage is one example of many solutions that exist around us, and we only need to chan

UGES versus other energy storage options

Electricity generation should operate in a continuous mode. The system should be designed to provide a constant power supply
euctuation as a result of the dropping and loading of the sand to the system, a battery or ultra-capacitor system should be impl
guarantee a constant power supply.

The proposed UGES design presented in the IIASA paper has multiple motors/generators, ensuring continuity in the generation
continuous supply are expected, of -10 to +10, which needs to be balanced with grid balancing measures.

The upper storage site of a UGES plant is designed to store as much sand as possible on the surface surrounding the mine shaf
to store the sand on the surface.

We propose a circular sand pile surrounding the mine shaft, as shown in Figure 3a.

The sand pile’s outer diameter will depend on the availability and cost of land – if land cost is high, the sand pile can rise vertica
on top of the sand pile. The sand pile can reach heights of 50m or more.

Figure 3b presents the upper storage site Illed up and the UGES plant fully charged.

The lower storage site consists of Illing the entire underground mine with sand. The mine is Illed from its extremes until the ch
presents the lower storage site Illed up, and the UGES plant discharged.

The mining equipment is essential to manage the sand in the upper and lower reservoirs. They consist of dump trucks, conveyo
and soil compactors.

Dump trucks or conveyor belts transport the sand from the mine shaft to the storage sites and back. The dump truck should be
recharge their battery while driving down sand piles or tunnels in the underground mine, increasing the eQciency of the UGES p

Conveyor belts can also create a sand pile around the mine shaft. Conveyor belts should also generate electricity when lowering
bucket wheel excavators extract sand from the upper and lower storage sites to load the dump trucks or conveyor belts. The so
piles to allow dump trucks to drive in the sand piles and increase their stability.
 Figure 3: (a) upper storage site arrangement of Underground Gravity Energy Storage and

UGES (b) fully charged and (c) discharged.

Cost-beneGt analysis of UGES technology

The IIASA paper supposes that the mine shaft and the underground tunnels are already in place. However, there is still the need
auxiliary equipment and install the cables, motor/generators, and foldable containers.

This IIASA paper does not consider the additional charge to rent the mine and its top to store the containers and sand.

The costs of UGES components are described in Table 1.

A mine with 40,000,000t of sand and an average height difference of 1,000m is being utilised to demonstrate the system’s cost.
projected for energy storage. The cost of storing energy with UGES decreases with an increase in the height difference between
locations.

Table 1 presents the UGES energy storage costs and power capacities at different depths. It should be noted that because natu
irregular, there may be associated remediation costs, which are not considered in the paper due to the diQculty of assessment.

In light of the Indings of this study, to produce a modest but constant amount of energy for a long time, UGES could be designe
monthly or seasonal scales, depending on the demand for energy storage.
 Table 1: Cost estimate for UGES with 40,000,000 tons of sand, 1000m, and 30MW power capacity

To offset the short-term changes in electricity consumption of solar and wind generation, this modest but consistent electricity
supplemented with other storage technologies, such as batteries and PHS.

The cost of installed energy storage for UGES is estimated in the IIASA paper to vary from US$1.0-US$10.0/kWh, assuming an a
the upper and lower storage sites of 1,500 and 200 metres, respectively.

The project is less expensive the more signiIcant the height difference. The power generation capacity varies with the mine’s de
and the sand moving speed.

The IIASA paper proposed constructing several motors/ generators along the shaft to reduce the cables’ costs and allow using
motors/generators. The system’s technical lifespan can range from 20 to 30 years.

A precise description of the UGES system performance is outside this paper’s scope.

The IIASA paper proposes a more detailed analysis of the system’s performance and eQciency for future work as a precise des
performance is outside the paper’s scope.

UGES is a particularly interesting technology for long-term energy storage to reduce seasonal euctuations in electricity demand

Reference
Hunt, J.D., Zakeri, B., Jurasz, J., Tong, W., Dabek, P.B., Brandão, R., Patro, E.R., Ðurin, B., Leal Filho, W., Wada, Y., van Ruijven, B.,
Gravity Energy Storage: A Solution for Long-Term Energy Storage. Energies. 16, 825. DOI: 10.3390/en16020825
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