A liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in the UK is to host the country’s first commercial-scale liquid air energy storage plant.
National Grid has teamed up with construction firm Costain and Highview Power Storage to design and develop the 30 MWh facility as part of the UK government’s energy storage demonstration competition.
The companies say that the first step will be to carry out a feasibility study into the proposed project at National Grid’s LNG site on the Isle of Grain, southeast England. They have been awarded a share of £0.5 million by the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to take the project forward.
Other groups that will also carry out feasibility studies on innovative energy storage projects under the DECC contest include a group led by Aston University that has proposed recycling used transportation batteries for grid energy storage applications, and B9 Energy O&M Ltd., which wants to demonstrate a 6 MWh compressed air energy storage (CAES) in Northern Ireland.
National Grid, Costain and Highview’s scheme would used excess electricity to liquefy air which would then be stored before being used to generate electricity again at peak times. "The Grain LNG import terminal is an ideal location for the project as Highview’s system can make use of the process when LNG is turned back into gas to enter the gas network – this helps make our import terminal and Highview’s system more efficient as well as saving money," said Simon Fairman, Head of Development at National Grid’s Grian LNG plant.
All three companies believe that the demonstration at Grain will form the template for a major UK export opportunity to other LNG terminals around the world.
DECC says that it will invite some of the companies participating in the energy storage demonstration competition to take part in the second, demonstration phase of the contest later this year, when up to £17 million of funding will be made available.
