Air compression energy storage power station

A compressed air energy storage (CAES) project in Hubei, China, has come online, with 300MW/1,500MWh of capacity. 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.

The $207.8 million energy storage power station has a capacity of 300 MW/1,800 MWh and uses an underground salt cave. Chinese developer ZCGN has completed the construction of a 300 MW compressed air energy storage (CAES) facility in Feicheng, China's Shandong province. The company said the storage plant is the world's largest CAES system to date.

The $207.8 million facility boasts an energy storage capacity of 300 MW/1,800 MWh and occupies an area of approximately 100,000 m2. According to ZCGN, it is capable of providing uninterrupted power discharge for up to six hours, ensuring power supplies to between 200,000 and 300,000 local homes during peak consumption periods.

The “Energy Storage No. 1” project utilizes the caverns of an abandoned salt mine, reaching up to 600 meters of depth, as its gas storage facility. This allows for a gas storage volume of nearly 700,000 cubic meters, translating into a single unit power output of up to 300 MW and a storage capacity of 1,500 MWh.

This allows for a gas storage volume of nearly 700,000 cubic meters, translating into a single unit power output of up to 300 MW and a storage capacity of 1,500 MWh. The system conversion efficiency is about 70%. It can store energy for eight hours and release energy for five hours every day, and generate about 500 GWh of electricity annually.

A landmark CAES power station utilizing two underground salt caverns in Yingcheng City, central China's Hubei Province, was successfully connected to the grid at full capacity on Thursday, marking the official commencement of its commercial operations.