IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v18y2025i7p1812-d1627609.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Review of Gravity Energy Storage

Author

Listed:
  • Ronglu Wang

    (Department of Electrical Engineering Antomation, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080, China)

  • Lu Zhang

    (Department of Electrical Engineering Antomation, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080, China)

  • Chenyang Shi

    (Department of Electrical Engineering Antomation, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080, China)

  • Chunqiu Zhao

    (Department of Electrical Engineering Antomation, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080, China)

Abstract

Gravity energy storage, a technology based on gravitational potential energy conversion, offers advantages including long lifespan, environmental friendliness, and low maintenance costs, demonstrating broad application prospects in renewable energy integration and grid peak regulation. This paper reviews the technical principles, characteristics, and application progress of liquid gravity energy storage (LGES), like pumped hydro storage (PHS) and solid gravity energy storage (SGES) systems—tower-based (T-SGES), shaft-type (S-SGES), rail-mounted (R-SGES), and mountain gravity energy storage (M-SGES). PHS, the most mature technology, is widely deployed for large-scale energy storage but faces significant geographical constraints. T-SGES and R-SGES exhibit higher flexibility for diverse terrains, while S-SGES leverage abandoned mines for resource reuse. Despite advantages such as high round-trip efficiency and extended lifecycle, challenges remain in efficiency optimization, high initial investments, and land utilization. Future development of gravity energy storage will require technological innovation, intelligent dispatch systems, and policy support to enhance economic viability and accelerate commercialization.

Suggested Citation

  • Ronglu Wang & Lu Zhang & Chenyang Shi & Chunqiu Zhao, 2025. "A Review of Gravity Energy Storage," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:7:p:1812-:d:1627609
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/7/1812/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/7/1812/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:7:p:1812-:d:1627609. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.