Fast , effective peak-lopping is an extremely desirable function from an energy grid management point of view and this is one reason why government funding has been provided . It is also a reason for considerable global commercial interest in the project .
The centrifugal fans employ 175kW WEG W22 Premium Efficiency IP55 IE3 3 ~ electric motors . They are foot mounted to a skid and connected using a torque limiting anti-vibration coupling to the fan drive shaft . methods ; once constructed the commercial installations will be close to environmentally neutral , output is simply air , ( or in the case of this test unit inert Nitrogen supplied by BOC , which makes up 78 % of the air anyway ). Commercial installations are likely to be used as temporary energy banks for larger power stations , which are both slow and expensive to turn down , or turn off .
The solution would also be very effective for storing energy from renewable sources such as wind turbines when there is a grid surplus and then fed back into the grid when demand peaks . The project will operate for at least one year and is intended to demonstrate how LAES can provide a number of electricity grid balancing services , including Short Term Operating Reserve ( STOR ), Triad avoidance ( supporting the grid during the winter peaks ) and testing for the US regulation market . Construction on the project began in February 2015 and it is expected to be operational during 2016 . Highview ’ s LAES technology can be scaled up from around 5MW output and 15MWh of storage capacity to more than 200MW output and 1.2GWh of capacity . It can be considered as being comparable to medium scale pumped hydro-electricity storage , but without the geographical restrictions of mountains and reservoirs . When scaling up LAES technology , the system will be modular
The beauty of this system is that each component part of the process is built using tried and tested technology .
and benefit from scale and convenience , an advantage when locating it to different regions and applications .
The Pros and Cons of LAES technology :
Why Liquid Air Energy Storage ?
• No geographical constraints
• Close to environmentally neutral in operation
• Competitive capital cost
• Long lifetime 25 + years
• Scalable to 200MW / 1GWh
• Components available from a global supply chain
• Integration of industrial low-grade waste heat and waste cold
• Uses no scarce or toxic materials
For further information , please visit www . weg . net
Issue 60 PECM 83