The world’s first commercial liquid air battery project planned for Trafford, Greater Manchester, will help the UK make the most of its solar and wind energy This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government
Liquid air storage, also known as cryogenic energy storage, operates like a giant battery. It stores renewable energy when it’s plentiful, for instance on a windy or sunny day, and then releases it as needed. Cryogenic energy storage might be new, but it’s not unproven.
This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government The world’s largest and first commercial liquid air battery facility is planned for Trafford, Greater Manchester, creating over 200 jobs and putting the city at the forefront of the latest green technologies.
The liquid air energy storage system is capable of scaling up to gigawatts of storage, which would provide days or weeks' worth of storage – and could supply a whole city.
Also, unlike batteries, liquid air storage does not create a demand for minerals which may become increasingly scarce as the world moves towards power systems based on variable renewable electricity. "Batteries are really great for short-term storage," Mr Dearman said.
Work is beginning on what is thought to be the world's first major plant to store energy in the form of liquid air. It will use surplus electricity from wind farms at night to compress air so hard that it becomes a liquid at -196 Celsius. Then when there is a peak in demand in a day or a month, the liquid air will be warmed so it expands.
OverviewGrid energy storageGrid-scale demonstratorsCommercial plantsHistorySee also
Cryogenic energy storage (CES) is the use of low temperature (cryogenic) liquids such as liquid air or liquid nitrogen to store energy. The technology is primarily used for the large-scale storage of electricity. Following grid-scale demonstrator plants, a 250 MWh commercial plant is now under construction in the UK, and a 400 MWh store is planned in the USA.