New market compressed air energy storage project

What is a compressed air energy storage project?

A compressed air energy storage (CAES) project in Hubei, China, has come online, with 300MW/1,500MWh of capacity. The 5-hour duration project, called Hubei Yingchang, was built in two years with a total investment of CNY1.95 billion (US$270 million) and uses abandoned salt mines in the Yingcheng area of Hubei, China’s sixth-most populous province.

What is compressed air energy storage (CAES)?

Among the different ES technologies, compressed air energy storage (CAES) can store tens to hundreds of MW of power capacity for long-term applications and utility-scale. The increasing need for large-scale ES has led to the rising interest and development of CAES projects.

Is compressed air energy storage a mature form of deep storage?

Compressed air energy storage (CAES) is considered a mature form of deep storage due to its components being firmly “de-risked” but few projects are operating in the Western world. A project in the remote New South Wales town of Broken Hill promises to lead the way. From pv magazine print edition 3/24

How many compressed air storage projects are there in the world?

For decades, there were only two operating compressed-air storage projects worldwide, at salt domes in Alabama and Germany. Another challenge is that those projects depend in part on natural gas.

What is advanced compressed air energy storage (a-CAES)?

They will run on an updated version of the technology called advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES). A-CAES uses surplus electricity from the grid or renewable sources to run an air compressor.

Is compressed air the future of deep storage?

For Australian agency the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), compressed air is one of the most promising deep storage technologies, largely because of its comparatively low cost, long asset life, and relative flexibility.