The 5-hour duration project, called Hubei Yingchang, was built in two years with a total investment of CNY1.95 billion (US$270 million) and uses abandoned salt mines in the Yingcheng area of Hubei, China’s sixth-most populous province. Contact online >>
The 5-hour duration project, called Hubei Yingchang, was built in two years with a total investment of CNY1.95 billion (US$270 million) and uses abandoned salt mines in the Yingcheng area of Hubei, China’s sixth-most populous province.
It is the largest grid-connected CAES project of its size in the world, engineering firm China Energy Engineering Corporation claimed in its announcement of the project (or specifically, the first in the world of that scale).
The project is owned by China Energy Construction Digital Group and State Grid Hubei Integrated Energy Services Co. Both China Energy Engineering Corporation and China Energy Construction Digital Group are part of government-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.
CAES technology works by pressurising and funnelling air into a storage medium to charge the system, and discharges by releasing the air through a heating system to expand it, which turns a turbine generator.
Primarily, the project will improve the peak shaving capacity of the regional power grid, or in other words improve the provision or balancing of supply/demand during peak demand hours. More generally, it will help the grid integrate more renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) was provided by the Zhongnan Institute of EPC while other contractors were Hunan Thermal Power and Nanfang Construction. Zhongneng Equipment supplied the main and auxiliary core equipment as well as equipment manufacturing and management services, while a firm called Losda provided the ‘whole process data’.
A page from the Hubei Provincial Development and Reform Commission describes the project as belonging to a company called Hubei Chuyun Energy Storage Technology Co, but its role in it is not clear.
The project is similar in size and investment to one which started construction in 2022 Energy-Storage.news reported on at the time, but it is not clear if it is the same one. That came shortly after a 60MW/300MWh one was completed in Jiangsu province.
CAES and advanced-CAES (A-CAES) technologies are being used for the world’s largest non-lithium, non-PHES energy storage projects in advanced development or construction today.
Energy-Storage.news'' publisher Solar Media will host the 2nd Energy Storage Summit Asia, 9-10 July 2024 in Singapore. The event will help give clarity on this nascent, yet quickly growing market, bringing together a community of credible independent generators, policymakers, banks, funds, off-takers and technology providers. For more information, go to the website.
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Hydorstor, a global long duration energy storage developer and operator based in Canada, has signed a 65-year Crown Lands lease with the New South Wales (NSW), Australia, government, a significant milestone in the construction of the 1,600-MWh Silver City Energy Storage Center, which is slated to begin next year.
The energy storage center will be built near the Potosi mine, a Crown Lands site in the northeastern part of Broken Hill. Crown Lands include parks, reserves, assets, infrastructure, and lands that are managed by the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure on behalf of the public.
The Silver City Energy Storage Center is expected to generate 200 MW of power, which translates into eight hours of storage when discharged at full capacity, according to a statement from Hydrostor. If discharged at lower capacity, the storage time increases significantly.
The energy storage center will not only supply emissions-free power to the NSW grid, but it will also replace aging diesel fuel-powered turbines that currently provide backup power to Broken Hill’s nearly 18,000 residents.
“This is a major milestone in our journey toward realizing an extremely important project, not just for Broken Hill, but for Australia,” Martin Becker, vice president of origination and development for Hydrostor, said in a statement. “We look forward to delivering Silver City which is a critical missing piece in the state’s energy mix, and a much-needed solution for the region.”
Electric reliability has been an ongoing challenge in the Far West region of NSW. In October, the NSW government declared an energy emergency in that part of the state when a severe storm destroyed seven transmission towers and left communities, including Broken Hill, with significant power disruptions.
The energy emergency lasted until early November, when Transgrid, which operates and manages the NSW high voltage electricity transmission network, was able to complete repairs to its towers.
“Recent events in the Far West region of NSW have demonstrated the need for long duration storage to secure energy supply for Broken Hill and the Far West,” said Penny Sharpe, minister for climate change and energy. “This Silver City Energy Storage Facility is a solution that will make Broken Hill a renewable energy leader. The city will be generating, storing and distributing cleaner and more affordable energy to the Far West region and the rest of the state.”
To help avoid future power intermittency challenges, and to protect Broken Hill’s residents from future outages, Hydrostor will also create a minigrid that will allow the storage center to leverage existing renewable energy infrastructure in the region. The minigrid will create a closed circuit that will fully power the town without the need to connect to Australia’s National Electric Market (NEM).
“We want to thank the NSW Government for recognizing the value of Silver City, long duration energy storage technology more broadly, and most importantly the potential for this project to protect the region’s energy through the establishment of a minigrid closed system in the event of outages. We are excited to deliver this project, which we are confident will benefit every member of the community,” Becker added.
The Silver City Energy Storage Project will serve NSW’s goal of increasing long-duration energy storage projects, improving the overall stability of the NEM. The project has received funding from the NSW Emerging Energy Opportunities Program and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
I work as a writer and special projects editor for Microgrid Knowledge. I have over 30 years of writing experience, working with a variety of companies in the renewable energy, electric vehicle and utility sector, as well as those in the entertainment, education, and financial industries. I have a BFA in Media Arts from the University of Arizona and a MBA from the University of Denver.
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