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Fly-wheels (storage technology) |
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evaluated |
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The fly-wheel is an electro-mechanical energy storage system based on rotating masses. It is a powerful storage technology which may be used both for on-board and for stationary applications.
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Technology field: Regenerative braking and energy management
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General information
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General criteria
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Environmental criteria
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Economic criteria
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Application outside railway sector
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Overall rating
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Overall potential: promising |
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Time horizon: long-term |
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Fly-wheel technology is a promising solution for energy storage systems. First in-service experience from trolley busses and stationary storage in a light city rail DC system show principal technological feasibility and reliability. High power fly-wheels for on-board storage in DMUs are still under development. Main barriers for fly-wheels are high initial investment and long payback times. Best cost-benefit ratio is reached for stationary storage systems in local DC systems. Scale effects will be small in the foreseeable future since no mass markets exist. Growing technological competition from double-layer capacitors make a wide-spread use of fly-wheel technology uncertain. Nevertheless, due to long life-time and relatively high maturity, fly-wheels are still a promising technology. |
date created: 2002-10-09 |
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© UIC - International Union of Railways 2003 |
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