Technologies
Compressed-Air Energy Storage
Also Known As CAES
Energy Storage
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Storing electricity as pressure: off-peak power drives compressors that pack air into an underground cavern, and at peak the released air feeds a turbine to give the energy back. The approach has been proven at utility scale but remains rare; the United States has a single operating plant, the PowerSouth Energy Cooperative facility in Alabama, rated at 100 megawatts with 100 megawatthours of storage.
Facts
Technology TypeMechanical energy storage 1 Invented Year Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
1. United States Energy Information Administration Official Site
US Energy Information AdministrationElectricity explained, Energy storage for electricity generation, Compressed-air storage systemsQuote, Electricity explained, Energy storage for electricity generation, Compressed-air storage systems
The United States has one operating compressed-air energy storage (CAES) system: the PowerSouth Energy Cooperative facility in Alabama, which has 100 MW power capacity and 100 MWh of energy capacity.
1. United States Energy Information Administration Official Site
US Energy Information AdministrationAssociated With: Pumped Storage Hydropower, Electricity explained, Energy storage for electricity generationQuote, Associated With: Pumped Storage Hydropower, Electricity explained, Energy storage for electricity generation
ESSs are not primary electricity generation sources. They must use electricity supplied by separate electricity generators or from an electric power grid to charge the storage system, which makes ESSs secondary generation sources.
2. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationHistoryQuote, History
The first utility-scale diabatic compressed-air energy storage project was the 290-megawatt Huntorf plant opened in 1978 in Germany using a salt dome cavern.
Open Questions (1 open question)
How much long-duration grid-scale energy storage will be needed, and at what cost, as the share of renewable generation grows?
Projections of long-duration storage cost and deployment differ because the underlying cost trajectories are themselves uncertain: hydrogen storage costs have a learning rate broadly similar to lithium-ion batteries but described as much more uncertain, and it remains disputed whether dedicated long-duration storage or alternative flexibility options such as demand response, network expansion or flexible generation will prove the lower-cost path to a high-renewable grid.
What would resolve this Sustained multi-year cost and deployment data across storage chemistries and grids at high renewable penetration, compared against the competing flexibility options, would settle which projection was closer to reality.
Electrical engineering and energy economicsWikipedia
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