Cryogenic storage of electricity in the form of liquid air to be built in England

The problem with green energy is that it is generated periodically when the wind blows or the sun shines. And when an excess of it is produced, you need to somehow save all this.

Now lithium-ion batteries are mainly used for storage, but they have a number of significant disadvantages.

British company Highview power for a long time has been operating a cryogenic storage of electricity and in lately has begun to build a large storage facility where energy will be stored in the form of liquid air.

How does such storage work?

The principle of operation of such a storage is quite simple: special cryogenic accumulators start the process of cooling the air to a temperature of -196 degrees Celsius. In this case, the air turns into a liquid state.

For the cooling process, energy is taken from the surplus energy produced by the panels. In addition, it also keeps warm. At the same time, in such a liquid state, air can be stored for up to several weeks in specially prepared tanks at normal pressure.

As soon as there is a need for electricity, and panels and windmills are not able to provide this, then the liquefied air is heated. In this case, both previously stored heat and external heat are used.

During the heating process, the air expands almost 700 times, while passing through the turbine (spinning its blades), it starts the process of generating electricity through the generator.

What are the prospects for such an installation

The main advantage of this type of storage is that the technology itself is not new and has long been tested. Besides, it is cheap and time-tested.

It is also devoid of the main disadvantages of such storages as lithium-ion, namely, from the point of view of ecology, cryo-storages are safe and do not require special conditions for disposal.

Where and when such settings will be used

So, as it was already written above, Highview power is engaged in trial operation of the installation, which is located near the city of Manchester. And the plant has a modest 5 megawatts.

But now the company is actively building a new storage facility for 50 MW. And according to their calculations, it will be able to provide electricity to 25,000 households.

The company representatives are convinced that the technology of energy storage in liquid air is the future. The only problem is that the construction of such installations requires a large initial investment.

Well, let's see what the experience of operating the first really large cryogenic storage facility will be. And if it turns out to be successful, then it is likely that this way of storing energy has prospects.

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