Smout Allen

The Sheppey Battery

An Energy Reservoir for the Isle of Sheppey

With the support and assistance of Williams Hybrid Power, BELA has been investigating the use of flywheel technology in the design of a mechanism for stabilizing power generated by the London Array, the worlds largest offshore wind farm of 175 turbines.

Devices on a large enough scale become indistinguishable from landscapes, and the Energy Reservoir is an example of this: a constellation of architectural features, geological augmentations and topographic ornaments that harvests and smooths the fluctuating electrical supply and in many cases, reapplies electrical energy to a site on the Isle of Sheppey. Power levels and flywheel capacity is displayed in an elevated point cloud of laser light that ebbs and flows in the air like a mist over the landscape.

The reservoir, functions like a landscape battery, inspired by the Dinorwigs Hydro Power Installation with its black start capability providing instant energy production via topographical advantage. This speculative landscape-scale instrument currently exists only in model form.

BBC Radio 4s Inside Science with Adam Rutherford
Hear Mark interviewed about the Sheppey Battery on Radio 4's Inside Science programme by Marnie Chesterton.

Credits and Thanks