China-europe air energy storage program bidding

Will China accelerate the development of compressed air energy storage projects?

Now, China is expected to accelerate the development of its far less prevalent compressed air energy storage (CAES) projects to optimize its power grid performance and move in a greener direction.

What is a compressed air energy storage project?

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.

What is China's new energy storage know-how?

Recently, China saw a diversifying new energy storage know-how. Lithium-ion batteries accounted for 97.4 percent of China's new-type energy storage capacity at the end of 2023. Aside from the lithium-ion battery, which is a dominant type, technical routes such as compressed air, liquid flow battery and flywheel storage are being developed rapidly.

What is China's energy storage capacity?

Of all the types of energy storage in China, CAES will represent 10% by 2025 and then surge to 23% by 2030, if all goes to plan. The China Industrial Association of Power Sources (CIAPS) said in an April report that China’s total energy storage capacity topped the world at 43.44 GW at the end of 2021.

What is CAES (compressed air energy storage)?

Recently, a major breakthrough has been made in the field of research and development of the Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) system in China, which is the completion of integration test on the world-first 300MW expander of advanced CAES system marking the smooth transition from development to production.

Did IET and Zhong-Chu-Guo-Neng successfully integrate a 300MW compressed air expander?

(See Figure 1) On August 1st, 2023, IET and Zhong-Chu-Guo-Neng Co. Ltd accomplished a significant feat, that is, the successful integration test of a 300MW compressed air expander.