Ares Power is developing a kinetic energy storage system for long duration applications. The company is currently constructing its first project on a pit mine in Nevada with a power capacity of 50 MW.

The company's differentiated technology provides a long duration storage systems with a claimed lifetime of 40 years, which would be industry leading.

Ares Power offers the Gravity Line, a system of weighted rail cars that are towed up a hill of at least 200 feet to act as energy storage and whose gravitational potential energy is used for power generation. Systems are composed of 5 MW tracks, with each car having a fixed motor to generate electricity. Installations can be scaled up to GW-level capacity by the addition of more tracks. Storage duration can be from 15 minutes to 10 hours with response time of 3 seconds.

ARES is building a demonstration scale project (TRL 6-7). They have a 1MW project in California for a private land owner.

System developer

• Chain drive chain drives have higher reliability than cable driven systems
• Scalability system can be sized up by the addition of more rails or cars

• Renewable energy shifting store energy generated from renewable systems at times of excess supply for use during times of peak demand, on the order of days
• Grid balancing use thermal storage as an additional load or generator on the grid to balance supply and demand while 3 second response time is useful for frequency response