Cryogenic energy storage

The liquid air, which takes up one-thousandth of the volume of the gas, can be kept for a long time in a large vacuum flask at atmospheric pressure.

The system is based on proven technology, used safely in many industrial processes, and does not require any particularly rare elements or expensive components to manufacture.

Dr Tim Fox, the head of Energy at the IMechE says "It uses standard industrial components - which reduces commercial risk; it will last for decades and it can be fixed with a spanner.

[10] The resulting grid-scale demonstrator plant at Pilsworth Landfill facility in Bury, Greater Manchester, UK, started operation in April 2018.

[11] The design was based on research by the Birmingham Centre for Cryogenic Energy Storage (BCCES) associated with the University of Birmingham, and has storage for up to 15 MWh, and can generate a peak supply of 5 MW (so when fully charged lasts for three hours at maximum output) and is designed for an operational life of 40 years.

[12] In October 2019, Highview Power announced that it planned to build a 50 MW / 250 MWh commercial plant in Carrington, Greater Manchester.

"[17] In 2024, Highview Power announced it had raised £300 million invesments the UK Infrastructure Bank and Centrica and would begin immediate construction of a 50MW/300MWh facility at Carrington.

[18] In December 2019, Highview announced plans to build a 50 MW plant in northern Vermont, with the proposed facility able to store eight hours of energy, for a 400 MWh storage capacity.

[24] A 300 kW, 2.5 MWh storage capacity[25] pilot cryogenic energy system developed by researchers at the University of Leeds and Highview Power[26] that uses liquid air (with the CO2 and water removed as they would turn solid at the storage temperature) as the energy store, and low-grade waste heat to boost the thermal re-expansion of the air, operated at an 80 MW biomass power station in Slough, UK, from 2010 until 2014 when it was relocated to the university of Birmingham.