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World's First Liquid Air Storage Plant Opens in Bury

Industry News, Energy Storage
Posted on: 07/06/2018

This week the world’s first full scale liquid air energy storage facility opened in Bury, near Manchester. Highview Power’s pioneering plant is a clean, green energy storage option that’s cheaper and more efficient than lithium-ion batteries.


The Technology


Liquid air energy storage (LAES) compresses and cools air to -196°C to liquefy it and store it inside large metal tanks. When needed, the liquid air is heated returning it to a gaseous state and causing it to expand – which drives turbines to generate power. The process is able to store the energy in the form of liquid air for long periods, making it a brilliant resource for the storage of renewable energy which can then be released at peak times. Highview Power’s chief executive, Gareth Brett said:


“If you only want to store energy for an hour, lithium-ion is fine but the reality is what people are looking to do is store excess renewable power and release it at peak times, which is usually four hours or more.”




Liquid Air vs Batteries

  • The benefits of the new technology inspire hope that it could rival battery storage. The new plant in Bury has a lifespan of up to 40 years – far longer than the 10-year lifespan of batteries.
  • Battery storage is more efficient than the liquid air process, however energy stored in lithium-ion batteries degrades over time, making it less efficient in the long run.
  • Liquid air storage is able to provide power for longer periods of time than batteries, able to provide energy to power homes for hours longer than batteries (based on a plant of similar size).
  • A LAES system is cheaper to build and operate than batteries. The air used is of course free, and this plant in Bury is built next to a landfill gas facility – using the waste gas to heat the system.


Future Plans


The site in Bury is relatively small at only 5MW, however Highview Power are already looking for a site to build a 50MW facility. The Bury facility was built in conjunction with Viridor and received a government grant, if it proves a success this could be a fantastic new avenue for clean energy storage as well as new jobs in the UK.


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