Artist’s impression of the combined liquid air energy storage and power generation facility at Trafford
The British government has awarded a grant of £10-million to support the construction of the world’s first commercial liquid air battery storage facility, at Trafford in Greater Manchester. The facility will be able to store enough electricity to power 200 000 homes for five hours a day, and will create 200 jobs. It will also deliver increased flexibility to the country’s electricity grid.
The technology is known as CryoBattery and was developed by Highview Power. The fundamental principle on which it is based is that air becomes liquid when it is cooled down to –196 ˚C, and that the liquified air can be very efficiently stored in low-pressure insulated vessels. Simply restoring the liquid air to ambient temperatures causes it to swiftly re-gasify, and, in the process, expand its volume 700-fold – this latter fact meaning that the re-gasifying air can be used to drive a turbine and generate electricity, without any combustion being required.
The cooling process would be powered by excess electricity, generated from renewable sources. A third of Britain’s electricity is now generated by renewable sources, but the unpredictability of, for example, wind, means that they can be generating power when it is not needed, and not generating power when it is needed. So unneeded power would be used to liquify the air and, when power was needed, the liquid air would be released from its storage to gasify and generate electricity.
The CryoBattery to be built at the Trafford Energy Park will have a storage capacity of 50 MW. The complete facility is a joint venture between Highview Power and UK independent power station developer Carlton Power. It will be able to provide long-term energy storage and help integrate renewable energy into the electricity grid as well as stabilise the regional grid.
Construction is expected to start later this year and with commercial operations commencing in 2022. It will employ existing transmission and substation infrastructure. The two companies plan to jointly develop up to four more CryoBattery projects in Britain, which would have a total output of 1 GWh.
“This new cryogenic energy storage plant will deliver much needed long-duration energy storage and provide valuable services to the [UK] National Grid,” highlighted Highview Power CEO Javier Cavada. “We are delighted to have been chosen to assist the UK in achieving its goal of a 100% clean, carbon-free energy future.”
“This revolutionary new CryoBattery facility will form a key part of our push towards net zero [carbon emissions], bringing greater flexibility to Britain’s electricity grid and creating green collar jobs in Greater Manchester,” stressed UK Energy and Clean Growth Minister (equivalent to a Deputy Minister in South Africa) Kwasi Kwarteng. “Projects like these will help us realise the full value of our world-class renewables, ensuring homes and businesses can still be powered by green energy, even when the Sun is not shining and the wind not blowing.”