Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES) is a promising energy storage technology renowned for its advantages such as geographical flexibility and high energy density. Comprehensively assessing LAES investment value and timing remains challenging due to uncertainties in technology costs and market conditions.
The facility is expected to have a storage capacity of 300MWh and deliver an output of 50MW for up to six hours. Credit: Highview Power. Highview Power has secured a £300m ($383m) investment for its first commercial-scale liquid air energy storage (LAES) plant in the UK.
Liquid air energy storage (LAES) is composed of easily scalable components such as pumps, compressors, expanders, turbines, and heat exchangers . Through these components, it stores electrical energy as thermal energy rather than mechanical energy, which is later recovered during discharge.
The LCOS at the optimal investment time is 0.105–0.174$/kWhe. Discharge subsidy needs to reach 0.133$/kWh to trigger immediate investment. Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES) is a promising energy storage technology renowned for its advantages such as geographical flexibility and high energy density.
4.1. Standalone liquid air energy storage In the standalone LAES system, the input is only the excess electricity, whereas the output can be the supplied electricity along with the heating or cooling output.
Long Duration Electricity Storage investment support scheme will boost investor confidence and unlock billions in funding for vital projects. The UK is a step closer to energy independence as the government launches a new scheme to help build energy storage infrastructure.