Flywheel Energy Storage

Nova Spin

We're proud to announce Nova Spin—our flywheel energy storage system— was included in TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024 list.

Meet our flywheel energy storage device built to meet the needs of utility grid operators and C&I buildings.

Flywheel energy storage at a glance

  • Nova Spin, our flywheel battery, stores energy kinetically. In doing so, it avoids many of the limitations of chemical batteries. It can charge and discharge 10x faster, its performance isn’t affected by temperature, and it’s manufactured using widely available materials. 
  • Nova Spin offer a number of advantages for grid operators. It can serve as a spinning reserve, support black starts, and regulate grid frequency and voltage in real time. 
  • Commercial customers benefit from Nova Spin’s capabilities as well. Its high charging and discharging speeds allow it to offset spikes in electricity demand more effectively than chemical batteries, greatly reducing peak demand charges. 
  • Nova Spin is paired with Nova Pulse, our modular chemical battery. This hybrid configuration covers both large surges in demand as well as steady base-load supply. By doing most of the heavy lifting, Nova Spin doubles the lifespan of its chemical battery counterpart, reducing overall levelized storage costs.

Utility Providers

Inertial-based storage built to support the grid

Nova Spin serves a number of functions vital to maintaining grid stability.  

Spinning Reserve

Nova Spin can deliver full power output almost instantaneously without fuel consumption,  reducing operational costs and environmental impact by minimizing the need for fossil fuel-based backup generation.

Frequency & Voltage Regulation

Nova Spin smooths frequency to 60 Hz, manages reactive power, and maintains voltages at 208 or 480 V depending on its placement along sub-transmission and distribution lines.

Black Start Capabilities

Because of its ability to quickly discharge electricity without an external power source, Nova Spin can provide the initial energy required to kick-start the grid restoration process, reducing downtime, and enhancing resilience.

Integration of Renewables

As more renewable power sources integrate with the grid, Nova Spin helps manage intermittency issues while reducing reliance on synthetic inertia.  

Infrastructure Support

By alleviating surges in demand, Nova Spin reduces the burden on aging grid assets, improving operational lifespans and delaying the need for expensive upgrades or expansions to supply. 

Commercial Businesses

Energy storage designed for C&I businesses

Nova Spin is engineered to maximize value, reduce costs, and support operations. 

Peak-demand Shaving

Nova Spin charges and discharges 10x faster than chemical batteries, allowing it to offset demand spikes more effectively than traditional solutions, minimizing costly peak-demand charges.

2x Longer Lifespan

By responding to spikes in demand, Nova Spin reduces strain on Nova Pulse, its chemical battery counterpart, leading to a 2x longer lifespan than many chemical-only solutions.

Protection For Sensitive Equipment

Nova Spin smooths any frequency irregularities in your building's power supply, protecting key equipment from damage or disruption.

How it works

Charge. Store. Deploy.

Nova Spin pulls electricity from the grid or a renewable energy source to spin a metal rotar using its motor-generator, storing kinetic energy. This kinetic energy is later converted back into clean, high-quality electricity as the same motor generator incrementally slows down the rotor.

Flywheel Energy Storage

Nova Spin included in TIME's Best Inventions of 2024 List

We're thrilled to be one of the few selected in the Green Energy category and are excited to continue showcasing the transformative potential of flywheel storage for our energy future.

See the Announcement

EV Charging

Support EV fast-charging with flywheel storage

Nova Spin's high C-rating makes it uniquely suited to supporting EV charging. When integrated into fast-charging stations, Nova Spin stores energy during low-demand periods and releases it when charging draws increase. This approach effectively balances the load, reduces stress on grid infrastructure, minimizes the need for costly upgrades, and enhances the efficiency of the charging station.

Microgrids

Create more robust microgrids

Its frequency and voltage regulation capabilities, high C-rating, minimal maintenance requirements, and tolerance for extreme temperatures make Nova Spin ideal for supporting microgrids. It automatically smooths and stores power from intermittent renewable sources and easily handles sudden surges in demand, increasing the overall resilience of microgrid systems.

Environmentally Friendly Storage

Nova Spin is 95% recyclable
Nova Spin ranks among the world’s most environmentally friendly batteries. It’s manufactured with readily available materials and designed to last for tens-of-thousands of cycles, reducing the impact of its supply chain and minimizing waste.

Nova Spin

Key Features

High Power Density

Nova Spin's C-rating is 10x greater than chemical batteries, allowing it to deliver large amounts of power over short durations. This stored energy is available within milliseconds, making Nova Spin well-suited to applications requiring immediate bursts of power. 

Fast, Frequent Cycling

Nova Spin is designed to handle tens-of-thousands of cycles, allowing it to frequently ramp up to full power output or input without significant degradation.

High Round-Trip Efficiency

Depending on system design and operational parameters, Nova Spin typically achieves 85% to 95% round-trip-efficiency. 

Lower Levelized Storage Costs

Nova Spin lasts 25 years with minimal maintenance and extends the lifespan of chemical batteries by 2x, greatly reducing the overall levelized cost of storage installations. 

Nova Spin

Details & Specs

Storage Type

Kinetic battery

Service Life

25 years, 50,000+ power cycles

Service Cycle

10 years

Recyclability

95%

Performance

Not affected by extreme heat or cold fluctuations

Functions

Quickly charges and discharges large amounts of power. Reduces load on chemical battery counterpart. Smooths grid frequency issues to protect sensitive equipment. Minimizes peak-demand charges. 

System certifications

IEEE

IEEE 1547-2018, IEEE 1547.1-2020, IEEE 1547.4-2011

UL

UL 9540, UL 1741

ISO

ISO 9001, ISO 14001

IEC

IEC 61850, IEC 62351

Install Nova Spin flywheel storage

  • Lower levelized cost of storage and 2x longer lifespan
  • Intertial-based storage that regulates frequency and voltage
  • 10x higher charge and discharge than chemical batteries
  • Scalable, modular, and quick to install

Provide a few pieces of information and we’ll schedule a virtual call to review your project at no cost.

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