Long-duration energy storage solution provider Highview Power has developed a modular cryogenic energy storage system, the CRYOBattery, that is scalable up to multiple gigawatts. This technology reaches a new benchmark for a levelized cost of storage (LCOS) of $140/MWh for a 10-hr, 200-MW/2-GWh system. Highview Power’s systems can enable renewable energy baseload power at large scale, while also supporting electricity and distribution systems and providing energy security.
Highview Power’s original liquid air energy storage system from 2018
“This is a pivotal moment for the renewable energy industry and for anyone who wants to deploy large amounts of renewables,” said Javier Cavada, president and CEO of Highview Power. “As more and more renewables are added to the grid, long-duration, giga-scale energy storage is the necessary foundation to make these intermittent sources of power reliable enough to become baseload. Not only does our CRYOBattery deliver this reliability and allow scalability, it is proven, cost-effective, and available today.”
Highview Power’s proprietary cryogenic energy storage technology uses liquid air as the storage medium and has the ability to provide voltage support, frequency regulation and black start capabilities. Unlike competing long-duration technologies, such as pumped hydro-power or compressed air, Highview Power’s CRYOBattery can be sited just about anywhere. The CRYOBattery has a small footprint, even at multiple gigawatt-levels, and does not use hazardous materials.
Alex Eller, senior research analyst with Navigant Research, said, “Long-duration technologies such as cryogenic energy storage will become increasingly necessary for an electricity system to transition from a primary reliance on conventional fossil fuel generation to a grid dominated by variable renewable generation from solar and wind.”
Cavada said Highview Power’s CRYOBattery can enable grid operators to maximize renewable penetration without needing fossil fuel generation to make up for intermittency. “This makes replacing gas peaker power plants with a combination of solar, wind, and energy storage a viable reality and truly sets the stage for a future where 100% of the world’s electricity comes from clean energy sources,” he said.
Over the last 15 years, Highview Power — through the design, construction, and operation of its CRYOBattery technology — has developed and optimized its own proprietary BLU core controller system. The BLU controller integrates the control of all CRYOBattery components to provide optimal facility performance — managing the balance between flexibility, efficiency, and response.
The BLU controller enables a system to be configured to a particular application through the selection of individual operational modes. It also provides operation and performance monitoring feedback, ensuring a facility’s optimal efficiency. The system’s embedded flexibility further ensures that the controller has the built-in capacity to adapt as a facility’s demand varies with market development.
Highview Power has partnered with Finland-based Citec to modularize its gigawatt-scale cryogenic energy storage system. With a simplified design and streamlined engineering from Citec, a standard CRYOBattery configuration of 50 MW/500 MWh can be easily, and cost-effectively, scaled up to multiple gigawatt hours.
Highview Power won the 2019 Ashden Award for Energy Innovation with its proprietary CRYOBattery technology.
News item from Highview
Really uninformative article. I am left with just questions. I wish you told us how it worked.
Compressing and liquefying gas produces lots of heat. How is that handled? Isn’t that wasted energy? Decompressing produces cold. How is that dealt with? Is there a heat sink exchanging these?
Each gas in air liquifies and solidifies at a different temperature. First water, then, CO2, then Nitrogen, then Oxygen. CO2 will be solid before Nitrogen liquifies. So are they saying they just let these gases liquify and boil in stages all still mixed together? Or are they using CO2 that comes out first? or Nitrogen that is most abundant? Do they actually liquify oxygen? which is dangerous.
What about safety? A gigantic tank of cryogenic air could explode. This could happen from malfunction, malice, or natural disaster like earthquake or tornado. How will they keep it safe?
This is a very simple idea. Some problem must have prevented it from being exploited years ago. What was that problem and what new development has made it practical now?
We suggest going to the product website to learn more information.
Interesting, this system proves that economies of scale do make a difference. “Long-duration energy storage solution provider Highview Power has developed a modular cryogenic energy storage system, the CRYOBattery, that is scalable up to multiple gigawatts. This technology reaches a new benchmark for a levelized cost of storage (LCOS) of $140/MWh for a 10-hr, 200-MW/2-GWh system. Highview Power’s systems can enable renewable energy baseload power at large scale, while also supporting electricity and distribution systems and providing energy security.”
The very thing that concerns me about this system is the plumbing and complexity of first “making air into a storage liquid”, then releasing the BTUs of cryogenic cold to make power once again.
The founders of the old company A123, who faltered and filed for bankruptcy a few years back, claim a new company 24M or 24 molar that is a technology between a chemical battery and a redox flow battery. They also claim when getting to the GW of storage, their product competes head to head with fossil fuel plants. The Dr. an his crew say computer modeling has shown that the “more” GW of storage that is built, the cheaper the energy storage becomes.