Can an ancient technology help spin up the renewables revolution? Dumarey—formerly Punch—Flybrid is doing just that, with its flywheel-based technology. In this episode, one of a series this summer, we look at their winning entries to the Engineering Matters Awards.

On construction sites, power supply must be shaped around the peak demands of heavy equipment. Waiting times for high power connections typically mean that generators are used instead, and these must be sized for the maximum power drawn. Dumarey’s flywheels can remove this need. A trickle of power from a generator a tenth of the size, or even a standard grid supply, can be enough keep a flywheel spinning, and able to hit peaks when needed.

Flywheels also have a role to play at the other end of the electricity grid. On wind farms in Northern Ireland, software company Izon and maintenance business Everun are using flywheels on older turbines to meet tight power factor requirements from local network operator Northern Ireland Electricity Networks, and to smooth supply as winds rise and fall.

Guests

Tobias Knichel, managing director, Dumarey Flybrid

Aaron Devaney, CEO, Izon