Storing energy mechanically on an industrial scale in pure high-pressure nitrogen and reusing it efficiently when needed - that is the declared goal of the young Hypnetic GmbH from Hanover. With the support of strong partners, including the global technology group Parker Hannifin, and their established components, the first decentralized and industrially usable compressed air storage systems in Europe will be built from May 2024, first in Lower Saxony and later in Saxony-Anhalt.

According to Hypnetic, the way it works can be succinctly described as "pumped-storage-to-go": Instead of the positional energy of large pumped storage power plants, the liquid used for loading and unloading experiences the counter-pressure of up to 350 bar with pure nitrogen. And the following applies: ten meters of altitude correspond to 1 bar of back pressure. This means that the commercially available steel gas cylinders used in the Hypnetic energy storage system, which are actually intended for transporting technical gases, basically replace an upper reservoir located 3.5 kilometers vertically. This means that power can be stored and released on an industrial scale in container format, even if there is no mountain of this size at the desired storage location.

The technology has been developed since 2019 by the three-person development team of Alexander Börgel, Niko Dalke and Eugen Zukin. While Dalke and Zukin completed their master's degrees in mechatronics at Leibniz Universität Hannover and had not yet found a purpose for their exceptional technical skills, Börgel pushed ahead with founding the company based on his experience with Voltark GmbH.

Thanks to the support of numerous partners, including Leibniz Universität Hannover and Wirtschaftsförderung Hannover, the team managed to build the prototype of the technology in cooperation with the Institute for Electrical Energy Systems. In subsequent extensive tests, it was shown that the compressed air energy storage unit had the highest efficiency and at the same time the highest power density of all existing compressed air storage units.

Backed by these results, Hypnetic GmbH was able to arouse strong interest among medium-sized prosumer companies, for example companies from the manufacturing industry with their own photovoltaic systems. With the Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Niedersachsen, the Hannover-Beteiligungs-Fonds and the NBank, established financing partners have also been found and two pilot projects have thus been bindingly planned.

Hypnetic is currently building the two pilot energy storage systems mentioned above, which will soon be open to visitors, and is looking forward to planning further Hypnetic energy storage systems - then in the megawatt range. "Wherever industrial, cycle-intensive application combinations make sense, it will be impossible to avoid looking at the Hypnetic energy storage system instead of or in combination with a battery," says Managing Director Alexander Börgel. The aim of the start-up is to rapidly expand all-round sustainable energy storage capacities for the energy transition towards solar and wind power.

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