An exciting development in the UK energy industry took place last week – the launch of the world’s first liquid air energy storage (LAES) plant.
UK energy storage developer Highview Power opened the 5-megawatt (MW) plant
An exciting development in the UK energy industry took place last week – the launch of the world’s first liquid air energy storage (LAES) plant.
UK energy storage developer Highview Power opened the 5-megawatt (MW) plant at the Pillsworth landfill gas site in Bury, Manchester. It is the world’s first operational demonstration of LAES technology at grid-scale. This development will be able to power about 5000 homes for about three hours.
So, what is a liquid air energy storage system and how does it work?
How does liquid air energy storage work?
Highview CEO Gareth Brett explains how liquid air energy storage works: “We use electricity to drive a big industrial refrigerator that takes air –which we clean up in the process — and turns it into a liquid, which we keep it in a tank. When we want the power back, we add a bit of heat, which can be just from the environment, to the cryogenic liquid air that evaporates and expands back into ordinary air. And that expansion drives a generator which turns our stored energy back into electricity.”
- The LAES plant uses air stored as a liquid.
- The liquid is converted to gas, involving an expansion process that releases stored energy.
- Gas drives a turbine and generates electricity.
- It also converts ‘waste’ heat from the landfill gas engines into power.
One of the most exciting characteristics of a liquid air energy storage system is that it’s more environmentally-friendly. The process releases zero carbon emissions, and no harmful chemicals or exotic metals are involved.
What’s next for LAES?
LAES present the opportunity for utilities to transition to a low-carbon world, and the adoption of this technology is now a reality.
- The global energy storage market is expected to grow to a cumulative 125 GW/305 GWh by 2030, attracting $103bn in investment over this period.
- Negotiations are underway to build plants that are ten times bigger than the Manchester plant.
- Highview estimates that 60% of the global energy storage market comprises long-duration, grid-connected storage. They say that LAES technology is ready to meet almost half of this.
- Utility-scale storage becomes a practical alternative to new-build generation or network reinforcement.
What are the benefits of a liquid air energy storage system?
According to Brett, the new plant is “the only large-scale, true long-duration, locatable energy storage technology available today, at an acceptable cost.”
LAES technology can:
- Enable the broader deployment of renewable energy by helping to smooth peaks and troughs in demand.
- Help meet rising energy demands.
- Provide grid-balancin