Revolutionary Energy Storage Systems

Stored differently. Empowering the future.

The Revolutionary Energy Storage Systems Future Science Platform is developing radical energy storage systems.

These systems are key components for Australia’s successful energy transition to achieve Net Zero Emissions, as levels of energy generation increase. The RESS FSP will focus on creating advanced storage architecture that goes beyond the use of electrons as a proxy. It will develop storage at varying scales, using low environmental impact materials to expand Australia’s energy resilience.

The Challenge

Energy storage is developing at a rapid speed, as it keeps up with advances in fuel technology. New management systems are needed to incorporate increasing proportions of renewable energy into the current power network. The network was designed specifically for traditional, carbon-intensive fuel technologies, however incremental improvements are no longer sufficient in keeping pace with the ongoing innovations.

Of the many energy storage options in use today, there are gaps for those providing small-scale storage that can charge quickly, and discharge over long periods (hours or days) and for large-scale storage that discharges rapidly (within minutes).

Our Response

To address these critical fundamental science and engineering challenges, the RESS FSP will explore ground-breaking science to deliver the required transformational energy storage solutions. Without the limitations of current materials, device designs and management systems, the FSP environment will enable paradigm shifts, critical for the revolutionary changes needed to power the future.

Transcript available from: https://www.csiro.au/CorporateAffairs/Vimeo/CSIRO-Batteries/video-transcript

A look at how CSIRO is shaping the future of battery energy storage through research and innovation.

Current Research Topics

Quantum Energy Storage

There are significant opportunities for energy storage using quantum batteries via the demonstration of devices that can charge in minutes and seconds. This is a major difference compared to today’s technologies, which can take tens of minutes or even hours. It is suggested that the larger these quantum devices get, the faster they can charge, challenging today’s paradigm of battery behaviour.

Some authors have also described concepts relating to quantum supercapacitors, suggesting that processes can be sped-up further, relative to quantum batteries. Whilst these concepts are yet to be demonstrated in prototypes, early exploration of the materials and processes have shown great promise.

There are other quantum processes yet to be fully explored with a number of energy areas, such as quantum biology, which may have implications for the next generation of solar and energy storage.

Quantum coherence effects may lead to the ability to not only generate energy in a biological or solar cell, but to also store within the same cell. If a material and/or device could achieve this, the result would be revolutionary.