trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/kue488_vl-499fk0gecg2w2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Highview Power launches liquid air energy storage facility in UK

Podcast

Next in Tech | Episode 49: Carbon reduction in cloud

Blog

Using ESG Analysis to Support a Sustainable Future

Research

US utility commissioners: Who they are and how they impact regulation

Blog

Q&A: Datacenters: Energy Hogs or Sustainability Helpers?


Highview Power launches liquid air energy storage facility in UK

Highview Power on June 5 announced the launch of a 5 MW/15 MWh liquid air energy storage, or LAES, plant near Manchester, U.K., which the company said is the first grid-scale facility of its kind.

SNL Image

The Pilsworth Grid Scale Demonstrator Plant in Manchester, U.K.
Source: Highview Power

The project, called the Pilsworth Grid Scale Demonstrator Plant, serves as an energy storage facility, as well as a converter of low-grade waste heat to power using heat from on-site landfill gas engines, the company said on its website.

The landfill facility located in Bury, Greater Manchester, began operation in April and is capable of storing and delivering enough electricity for about 5,000 average homes for three hours.

"The market opportunity for LAES is considerable – we estimate that 60% of the global energy storage market comprises long-duration, grid connected storage and that our LAES technology is ready to meet almost half of this," Highview Power CEO Gareth Brett said.

"The Pilsworth project has already played a key role in the breakthrough of LAES technology and will continue to do so. Utilities from around the world who have for some time been assessing our unique solution for their energy storage, renewables integration, and grid balancing challenges are now using the operating data to confirm their expectations. We are therefore already in detailed negotiations to build plants ten times the size of this one for utility customers of several nationalities and for various different applications," he added.

LAES technology uses air stored as a liquid, which is then converted back to gas in a process that involves a "700-fold expansion in volume and produces zero emissions," the company said. The expansion releases stored energy which drives a turbine to generate electricity. Facilities using LAES technology are made mostly of steel with a lifespan of about 30 to 40 years, which the company touted as an environmental advantage over energy production facilities requiring "exotic metals or harmful chemicals."

The project was developed in partnership with recycling and waste energy company Viridor Ltd, and received £8 million in funding from the U.K. government.

Earlier in 2018, Highview Power opened offices in New York, appointed the president of its U.S. subsidiary, and announced a collaboration with SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. for the deployment of energy storage solutions for utility-scale applications in North America.