Liquid air renewable energy storage is a branch of cryogenic storage, that uses super-cooled sanitized air to store electrical energy. Surplus grid electricity during off-peak periods, cools sanitized atmospheric air to -195 °C / -319 °F, at which point it becomes liquid.
This liquid occupies a thousand times less storage space than air. Passing this liquid air through a heat exchanger rewarms it, to the point that it vaporizes again. Pressure from this massive expansion drives a turbine that generates electricity.
Could Liquid Air Become a Practical Storage Solution?
Scientists from Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have joined forces to review the future of liquid air energy storage (LAES).
They want to establish whether this cryogenic alternative could become the least-cost option for continuous electricity supply. Theirs is an interesting challenge, especially as Wikipedia records little progress in this regard.
It is becoming abundantly evident that neither lithium-ion batteries, nor hydro pumped storage are able to close the renewable energy gap. There are a few working examples of liquid air renewable energy. So we know the technology can store vast amounts of electricity, and deliver it when it’s needed.
Could Liquid Air Become The Least-Cost Storage Solution?
The team from Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology were unable to find conclusive evidence of LAES economic viability.
So they began from the ground up, by developing models to predict the break-even point at which the cryogenic technology should become affordable. Their calculations revealed that liquid air renewable energy is financially viable in appropriate locations:
- They estimated the LAES levelized cost of storage at $60 per megawatt-hour.
- This cost is a third of lithium-ion, and half that of hydro pumped storage.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology report that we link to below, concludes as follows: “The story of liquid air storage is far from over. We believe our findings justify the continued exploration of LAES, as a key energy storage solution for the future.”
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