Liquid Air Energy Storage is similar to Compressed Air Energy Storage. Both use excess energy from a power plant to store air which can then be released later to power turbines. Highview Power Storage in the UK is building a commercial-scale LAES facility as a demonstration it can be done.
“We’re treating this (demonstration plant) as a shop window on the technology,” he says. “Utility companies are pretty conservative and they want to see this bit of kit working at a scale that they can buy one.”
Energy storage at grid scale, whether by batteries, LAES, CAES, or pumped hydro is essential as we transition to renewable energy.