Earth is calling... Boessenkool

The world must switch to renewable energy sources such as energy from wind, water, sun or biological material for a sustainable future. However, this way of generating energy causes major peaks and troughs in energy production. Also, this energy is produced in different places, but also in a lot more. The energy flows through the network differently, and the current system is not designed for that. “The energy transition has put the stability of the network under pressure, and the solution we have developed will give more stability and maintain it”, Eelco Osse says when explaining the Kinext. Eelco Osse is the figurehead of the manufacturing industry in Twente, and, as an entrepreneur, he invests in the development of progressive, innovative technologies. Boessenkool often collaborates with other parties from Twente.

Machinefabriek Boessenkool, part of the Osse Equipment Manufacturing Group, is developing the Kinext together with energy startup S4 Energy. It is a perfect solution for tackling the challenges that the energy transition brings. It is a combination of (slow) batteries and a flywheel. “It’s a new type of storage. The success of the energy transition is dependent on the ability to store energy for longer and shorter periods, and this solution is the answer,” Eelco Osse says. “With these characteristics, the flywheel is ideally suited for industrial companies with high, but capricious energy consumption. For entrepreneurs, the Kinext can mean the difference between a standard electricity connection or expensive electricity transmission rates.”

“The Kinext can be used, for example, for recovering electricity from the braking energy of trains. Released braking energy can be stored, and this energy can be reused to give the train a boost when it starts moving again, without burdening the network. In this way, almost no energy is lost.” Eelco Osse points out. “The Kinext also helps network administrators control the AC frequency and the voltage on the electricity networks, and wind farm owners can cope with unwanted peaks and troughs in power generation.”

The Kinext efficiently stores kinetic energy in a steel rotor. Due to the special design, the installation slowly loses its stored energy. It can charge and discharge the total energy content with a lot of power (one megawatt) in one and a half minutes, with a response time of less than one millisecond. The Kinext has the optimal combination of properties of different technologies. Properties like supplying power, the storage capacity, the reaction time, the required duration of continuous discharge and the optimisation of the storage system’s life span.