The University of Malta is currently developing a compressed air energy storage technology integrated into a floating platform that can support a number of offshore systems, including wind turbines.
FLASC – Floating Liquid-piston Accumulator using Seawater under Compression – involves the use of compressed air for large-scale energy storage in the offshore environment, while utilising a dual chamber approach to eliminate wide pressure and temperature fluctuations.
The concept was developed by Dr. Ing. Daniel Buhagiar during his Ph.D. research under the supervision of Prof. Ing. Tonio Sant.
Prof. Sant and his team at the Department of Mechanical Engineering are currently focusing on the construction of a small-scale prototype, to be deployed later this year in the Grand Harbour, Malta.
The aim is to verify the concept in the field and to gain practical insights into the performance of the system in order to validate existing computational models.
Development of the prototype is being carried out in partnership with Medserv plc., with support from the Institute for Sustainable Energy of the University of Malta.
Project FLASC is financed by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) through the FUSION Technology Development Programme.