In a major development in the domain of scientific advancements, Switzerland came up with the successful completion of the most awaited engineering marvel in recent times – the Swiss Water Battery! Meticulously crafted over a span of 14 long years, this energy wonder costed the Swiss government €2 billion (20,49,600 USD). The fact that its sheer performance matches the productivity of 400,000 electric car batteries, proves that it’s worth of every single penny that went into its making.
Crisis Thy Name Is Energy
The way things stand in 2022, energy crisis is one of the many riddles that the human race is trying to solve. We are desperately in need of a sustainable solution as the [irresponsible] over usage of fuels have sparked the fuel crisis. As it happens, extraordinary times demand extraordinary approaches – one has to look beyond the peripheries of the regular scheme of things and think out-of-the-box.
It’s a known fact (despite several attempts to hush it up globally) that we are running out of fossil fuels. The case is almost the same across the world. For centuries, we remained dependent on coal and then we started over-reliance on petrol, diesel, gasoline & natural gas. This very tendency has not only ran riot through our non-renewable energy resources but also contributed extensively to global warming, which has been rising exponentially for quite some time. We had to resort to renewable sources of energy in order to keep the potential climate catastrophe at bay. Taking all these aspects into the consideration, the news of the grand arrival of the Swiss Water Battery on the scene is indeed a blessing amidst these trying times.
The Awe-ful Machine To Tackle The Awful Situation
It was right after the Great Recession in 2008, the government of Switzerland went way ahead of the time in commissioning the Nant de Drance to build the awestriking Swiss Water Battery. Digging a tunnel as long as 18 kilometer, was a herculean task, to say the least, as it had to go right through the midst of the Alps to facilitate the smooth functioning of the hydroelectric power plant. Built into a subterranean cavern in the Swiss canton of Valais, this 900MW pumped storage power plant is aimed to power as many as 900,000 homes. To our utter astonishment, we find that the 20 million kWh Swiss ‘water battery’ is nearly 600ft under the ground.
The Redemption Song
Though the concept of water batteries have been there with the Swiss for centuries, this new gigantic water battery is perceived to offer a ray of hope when the world is at its wit’s end to address the growing concern of energy crisis. As we make giant strides with this phenomenon called the Swiss Water Battery, the mass awareness regarding energy conservation and renewable energy resources, remains an area of utmost importance which needs to be addressed on a war footing.
