What we do
At Rubbish Energy we developing micro-grids to operate rural homes and businesses on 100% renewable energy sources. We are doing this by designing a programme that will automatically use the most locally produced renewable energy, and anything produced beyond requirements will be designed to be utilised in that area. Whether that is creating hydrogen from water, or wastewater, designing and creating a water tower for pumped hydro, or saving the power as heat in a sand battery to power the community renewably. The micro-grid we are developing will be able to ‘island’ within a national grid, meaning that it can function self-contained, without the national grid, but the national grid would be there as a back-up. The system will also allow for extra capacity to be used from the surrounding areas as a flexibility service, either supplying or removing excess energy from the national grid to flatten the curve at peak times.
Micro-Resilience
As storms and extreme weather become more common, micro-resilience will allow for communities and businesses to continue to operate when the national grid connection has been interrupted. This is because the generation of the energy will be local, with a form of energy storage built in. It will mean that there can be quicker recovery and higher resilience in the face of climate change.
Create Local Energy Projects
It is possible that we could help bring large renewable sites online, if developed in conjunction with a large renewable site, with agreements to use excess energy, it would mean the timescale for a grid connection could drop from circa 15 years in some cases. The grid connections would not be required if the renewable projects are connected and used within the local projects.
Using Renewable Energy
As learned through COVID, flattening the curve is a good thing, and doing the same for renewables is also a good thing. The current variably of renewables means that there is a large flux in supply and demand. If there is too much supply of renewables, the renewables begin being turned off, which is what you can see when some large turbines are turned off on windy days. Rural communities and businesses near these areas could benefit from this excess to store the energy, and convert it into usable forms with their micro-grid