Symposium draws global experts on offshore energy storage

Strategies to store and use energy generated by such renewable sources as wind and solar are the focus of the inaugural Offshore Energy and Storage Symposium and industry connector event on the UWindsor campus this week.

Windsor was chosen to host the event largely because of the innovative work of civil and environmental engineering professor Rupp Carriveau, who has spent the past several years working with industry partner Hydrostor on research and development of methods to convert energy into compressed air for underwater storage.

This air is stored in large receptacles which can be moored offshore to a lake or ocean floor. When energy is required during times of peak demand, the compressed air is released to the surface—aided by water pressure caused by submersion—and converted back into electricity.

The symposium, July 10 and 11 at the Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation, will provide an opportunity for experts in this emerging field to share their own research and technological developments.

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