Air Compression Example Projects

As of 2017, only 2 CAES installations are operational world-wide, one in Germany, one in the US.

Huntorf, Germany. Operational since 1978, output 290 MW daily or 321 MW max for 2 hours, thanks to storage, consisting of 2 135,000 m3 large underground cavities, at a depth of 650-800 meter, with air pressures of up to 50-70 bar. Efficiency at 42% if compression heat is not used (adiabatic compression). For the future, efficiencies of up to 70% are to be expected.

[de.wikipedia.org] – Kraftwerk Huntorf
[wikipedia.org] – Compressed air energy storage

McIntosh power plant in Alabama, operational since 1990. Output from CAES storage 110 MW over 26 hours, with heat recuperation, leading to an efficiency of 54%. The 2015 video confirms that until 2015 there were only two CAES plants in the world and only one in the US (the other Huntorf in Germany)

[sciencedirect.com] – Compressed air energy storage
[wikipedia.org] – List of energy storage projects
[deepresource] – Liquid Air Energy Storage

Currently underway is a project in Northern Ireland, funded by the EU and hopefully survives the Brexit drama; 330 MW from storage for 6 hours:

[deepresource] – Europe Chases CAES GWh Energy Storage

Atmospheric Railway – Aeromovel

It is possible to drive a train on air pressure. The principle dates from the 19th century and was in fact in operation in Britain and elsewhere. Today working examples run in Brasil and Indonesia under the name Aeromovel. It should be noted that air pressure or vacuum can be produced efficiently with wind turbines.

owards the end of the twentieth century the Aeromovel Corporation of Brazil developed an automated people mover that is atmospherically powered. Lightweight trains ride on rails mounted on an elevated hollow concrete box girder that forms the air duct. Each car is attached to a square plate—the piston—within the duct, connected by a mast running through a longitudinal slot that is sealed with rubber flaps. Stationary electric air pumps are located along the line to either blow air into the duct to create positive pressure or to exhaust air from the duct to create a partial vacuum. The pressure differential acting on the piston plate causes the vehicle to move.

[wikipedia.org] – Atmospheric Railway

CAES Mechanical Wind Energy Storage

Abstract:

The construction and testing of a modular, low pressure compressed air energy storage (CAES) system is presented. The low pressure assumption (5 bar max) facilitates the use of isentropic relations to describe the system behavior, and practically eliminates the need for heat removal considerations necessary in higher pressure systems to offset the temperature rise. The maximum overall system efficiency is around 97.6%, while the system physical footprint is less than 0.6 m3 (small storage room). This provides a great option for storage in remote locations that operate on wind energy to benefit from a nonconventional storage system. The overall size and capacity of the system can be changed by changing the number of active cylinders, which in this case are off-the-shelf, small pressure vessels used for fire protection. Moreover, the system operation is automated and capable of addressing both high energy and high power density applications with an infinite number of charge-discharge cycles by augmenting the capacity with the required number of storage cylinders. The system is eco-friendly and has low maintenance costs compared to chemical storage.

[researchgate.net] – Low pressure, modular compressed air energy storage (CAES) system for wind energy storage applications

CAES Videos

[wikipedia.org] – Compressed air energy storage

Europe Chases CAES GWh Energy Storage

Dublin, Ireland-based Gaelectric was granted €90m in European Union backing for a compressed air energy storage (CAES) project due to be built in Larne, east Antrim, on the Northern Irish coast. (2017).

The funding came on top of €15m in previous grants, the BBC reported. The Larne CAES project, due for completion around 2022, is a European project of common interest that will generate up to 330MW of power for up to six hours.

Editor: hopefully Brexit won’t ruin this project.

[energystoragereport.info] – Europe chases GWh energy storage
[wikipedia.org] – Compressed air energy storage (CAES)
[arup.com] – Storing compressed air energy in underground caverns
[energycentral.com] – EU Funds 330-MW Northern Ireland CAES Storage Project
[cleantechnica.com] – Additional €8.3 Million For Northern Ireland Energy Storage Project

Source: [eera-set.eu] – Gaelectric Energy Storage –> 54% efficiency

[warwick.ac.uk] – CAES presentation ParkID/Franc Mouwen