This 50MW/500MWh (10 hours) CryoBattery, which represents an estimated investment of USD $150 million, will be located in Diego de Almagro in the Atacama Region. With one of the highest levels of solar irradiations in the world, the Atacama Region has the potential to generate all the country's electricity. By pairing solar with cryogenic energy storage, Chile can benefit from 24/7, 100% renewable energy.
Engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) on the project will be carried out by SK Ingeniería y Construcción, a leading Chilean EPC and a subsidiary of the Sigdo Koppers group. The project is currently in the pre-feasibility engineering phase and is scheduled to enter environmental processing in August of this year. Construction is estimated to start in the second half of 2023.
How does cryogenic energy storage work?
"The objective of our company is to make this innovative technology available to the market and to all actors in the electrical and mining sectors. These plants can replace traditional coal plants, which will help us contribute to accelerating the decarbonization process in Chile and to combat climate change,” said Fernando del Sol, president of Highview Enlasa.
See also: Highview Power to develop multiple cryogenic energy storage facilities in the UK
Highview Power’s proprietary cryogenic energy storage technology utilizes air liquefaction, in which ambient air is cooled and turned to liquid at -196 °C (-320 ˚F). The liquid air is stored at low pressure and later heated and expanded to drive a turbine and generate power. It is the only long-duration energy storage solution available today that is locatable and can offer multiple gigawatt-hours (weeks) of storage. The CryoBattery has a small footprint and is scalable with no size limitations or geographic constraints, allowing for the deployment of massive amounts of renewables. Highview Power’s cryogenic energy storage plants offer valuable capabilities including voltage control, grid balancing and synchronous inertia that give grid operators the flexibility to manage power and energy services independently.
How does liquid air storage compare to other baseload energy sources?
“This is a big step forward to enabling decarbonization goals for the country of Chile,” said Javier Cavada, CEO and President of Highview Power. “Our liquid air energy storage technology is the optimal solution for the large scale, long-duration energy storage that is needed to balance the grid, without the geographic constraints associated with other energy storage technologies.”
The Highview Enlasa joint venture is opening Latin American energy markets to baseload renewable energy potential. When paired with renewable energy sources such as solar, Highview Power’s long-duration energy storage system is equivalent in performance to thermal and nuclear power. CryoBatteries are developed using proven components from mature industries and can deliver pumped-hydro capabilities without geographical constraints.
Who are Enlasa and what do they do?
Energía Latina S.A. (Enlasa) is an energy generation company with more than 12 years of history. Until now their business model has been mainly oriented towards providing backup power to the National Grid making available flexible/fast response units to the system, providing grid security in case of contingencies or unavailability in the transmission facilities. (mfo)
