Rhizome Information

What we do: Rhizome contributes to the ecological bifurcation by developing the world’s greenest and most lucrative Long Duration Electricity Storage system (LDES) in the world (≥4h). Our system has the same range of Round-Trip Efficiency (RTE) as batteries or pumped storage hydropower, but it is: - far cheaper - more environmentally sustainable - designed to operate for 50+ years - low-tech and relies on standard designs and non-critical materials, resulting in facilitated world scaling, short construction time and low-cost O&M. Why? - To address the mismatch between intermittent renewable energy and the fluctuating consumption of end users by substituting gas - To guarantee better and more recurring incomes from wind and solar PV farms, especially during peak productions - To enable nuclear power to be more profitable with higher load factors All this encourages greener electricity and lower prices, which leads to: - A drop in carbon emissions by substituting fossil fuels use - Less energy precarity for end users - More competitivity for industrials - Reinforced energy sovereignty - Relocated jobs - Less debt by improved trade balance How? Compressed Air Energy Storage system (CAES) stores electricity by compressing air into pressure vessels or underground cavities with a motor. This air is then expanded to recover electricity with an alternator. Rhizome’s bold promises are powered by two breakthrough innovations: the first consists of a very new kind of hydro pneumatic compression system. This system enables quasi-isothermal compression/expansion with much better RTE than the 2 previous CAES generations, while sharply lowering prices. The second innovation drastically lowers the price of pressure vessels. Who? Impact engineers and entrepreneurs, green tech industry fundraising expert and the best CAES expert team from our research partner IFPEN: the leading European research institute in LDES systems.