As global use of renewable electricity surges, surpassing coal for the first time, so to does the need to store that energy when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.
While some are turning to large-scale lithium batteries and others to pumped hydro schemes, a small but growing industry is convinced there’s an even better solution: batteries that use air.
near the village of Carrington in north-west England, the foundations are being laid for the world’s first commercial liquid air energy storage facility.
The complex will be a cluster of industrial machinery and several storage tanks
The problem of intermittency
Table of Contents
The transition to renewable energies is essential for the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Though, this poses challenges for electricity grids.
Power plants that burn fossil fuels such as coal and gas can be turned on and off practically at will, offering a predictable electricity supply that adjusts to demand.
In contrast, renewable energies are intermittent. This means that sometimes they do not generate enough electricity, leading to the risk of power outages, and other times there is an excess -like on windy days- something that could damage the grid.
A key part of the solution is to store the surplus energy so that it can be released when needed. This helps to ensure a reliable supply and minimizes the risk of damage to the grid.
As the use of renewable energies has increased, it has become increasingly critically important to develop grid-scale storage capacity, says Shaylin Cetegen, a chemical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who studies energy storage systems.
The process works in three stages. First, air is taken from the environment and cleaned. Second, the air is repeatedly compressed to reach a very high pressure. Third, it is cooled to liquefy using a multi-channel heat exchanger: a device with multiple channels and tubes that transport substances at different temperatures, allowing controlled heat transfer between them.
“The energy we get from the grid powers this charging process,” explains Cetegen.
When the grid needs additional energy, the liquefied air is used.it is extracted from storage and evaporated,returning to its gaseous state. Then it is used to drive turbines, generating electricity for the grid. Afterward, the air is released back into the atmosphere.
there are some ingenious energy-saving techniques during the process. Such as, high-pressure gases heat up, so compressing the air generates heat.
Fuente de la imagen, Getty images
The liquid air energy storage system is expected to begin operating in 2027. Highview intends to make profits by selling electricity to the grid when it is most needed.
Simply put, while energy storage is an essential technology, its economic viability is complex, says Cetegen.
A study published
Fuente de la imagen, getty Images
Cetegen destaca un último argumento a favor del almacenamiento de energía mediante aire líquido: su bajo costo.
Las tecnologías de almacenamiento de energía suelen evaluarse mediante un indicador denominado “costo nivelado de almacenamiento”, que estima el costo de cada unidad de energía almacenada durante la vida útil del proyecto.
En el caso del aire líquido, este costo puede ser tan bajo como US$45 por megavatio-hora, en comparación con los US$120 del almacenamiento hidroeléctrico por bombeo y los US$175 dólares de las baterías de iones de litio.
“Si bien ninguno de estos métodos de almacenamiento es económicamente viable en la actualidad sin apoyo político, el almacenamiento de energía mediante aire líquido se destaca como u
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