In today’s changing world where innovation and sustainability are keys to progress, companies and utilities in the energy industry are looking for solutions to bridge the long-existing gap between traditional energy generation, renewable energy generation, and energy storage systems. One company that seeks to meet this challenge is Amber Kinetics as it brings to the Philippines the world’s first and only long-duration flywheel energy storage system.
What is flywheel energy storage?
Flywheel technology is an innovation that efficiently stores kinetic energy by a spinning steel rotor enclosed in a vacuum container. Amber Kinetics achieved a breakthrough with theirtechnology by extending the duration and efficiency of flywheels from minutes to hours, thus resulting in safe, economical, and reliable energy storage. Their flywheels feature an energy capacity of 32 kWh and can be scaled up to tens or even hundreds of megawatts.
Amber Kinetics is an Energy Storage Company originating from Silicon Valley in California, USA. Since its founding in 2009, its pioneers — Dr. Seth Sanders and Ed Chiao — worked together toward their shared vision of creating a clean and sustainable energy future.
Following the company’s successful trials of its technology in Lhasa Tibet, Hawaii, Taiwan and the USA, Amber Kinetics made its way to the Philippines in 2018 when the company established its manufacturing facility in Santo Tomas, Batangas. The company then expanded its presence in the country with its local partnership with De La Salle University (DLSU) in Laguna. Through this collaboration, DLSU Laguna becomes the first establishment in the Philippines to use the groundbreaking flywheel technology.
Today, the Philippines is home to Amber Kinetics’ manufacturing, testing, and final configuration sites. Having this site and service locally also trailblazes the demand for higher value-added industrial activities, promoting the Philippines as a strategic destination for leading-edge innovation and development.
Sustainability, social responsibility at the core
Above and beyond manufacturing energy storage, Amber Kinetics is committed to fulfilling its role as a responsible corporate citizen. With hopes to help build a more reliable energy infrastructure, it keeps sustainability at the heart of its business.
Amber Kinetics’ flywheel features a recyclable all steel design and does not use chemical materials thus eliminating any hazardous waste handling, making it both a sustainable and cost effective energy storage solution.
The sustainability efforts of Amber Kinetics include bringing its technology to far-flung areas in the Philippines where energy quality is still a challenge. According to the Philippine Solar Energy Profile, the Philippines’ archipelagic nature leaves an untapped energy demand in roughly 4.6 million Filipino households. In light of this, Amber Kinetics — in partnership with various public and private stakeholders — aims to cater to these communities by deploying its technology for microgrid applications. Their projects in the pipeline involve objectives of improving energy quality and accelerating sustainability goals in the Philippines.
The presence of pioneering technologies like Amber Kinetics’ Flywheel Energy Storage System in the country is just one way to show that a future with cleaner, more sustainable energy is within the bounds of possibility in the local scene.