The Anonymous Widower

Hydrostor Announces Australia’s First CompressedAir Energy Storage Project Secures Funding From Arena And South Australia Renewable Technology Fund

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Australian Energy Storage Alliance.

This is the introductory paragraph.

Hydrostor Inc., a leader in Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES), is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, Hydrostor Australia Pty Ltd, has been awarded a combined total of $9 million of grant funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Government of South Australia Renewable Technology Fund for Australia’s first A-CAES project, to be sited at a mine outside of Adelaide—the Angas Zinc Mine near Strathalbyn, currently in care and maintenance.

I’ll answer a few questions.

Who Are Hydrostor?

They appear to be a Canadian company based in Toronto according to their web site, which has this prominent statement.

Hydrostor is the world’s leading developer of Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES)
projects, enabling the transition to a cleaner, more affordable and more flexible electricity grid.

There is also a video on the home page.

What Technology Do They Use?

This description is from the AESA article.

The technology works by using electricity from the grid to run a compressor, producing heated compressed air. Heat is extracted from the air stream and stored inside a proprietary thermal store preserving the energy for use later in the cycle. Compressed air is then stored in a purpose-built underground cavern, which is kept at a constant pressure using hydrostatic head from a water column. During charging, compressed air displaces water out of the cavern up a water column to a surface reservoir, and during discharge water flows back into the cavern forcing air to the surface under pressure where it is re-heated using the stored heat and then expanded through a turbine to generate electricity on demand.

An animation describing Hydrostor’s A-CAES system is available on YouTube.

I found the video worth watching, as it answered most of my questions.

Where Could Systems Be Installed?

This paragraph from the AESA article talks about the location of the energy store in South Australia.

By selecting the Terramin Angas Zinc Mine, the project will repurpose existing underground mining infrastructure as the A-CAES system’s sub-surface air storage cavern, benefiting both the electricity grid in South Australia and the local community by converting an unused brownfield site into a clean energy project that drives economic development. Hydrostor acknowledges Terramin Australia Limited’s support in developing the project and the technology’s beneficial application to South Australia.

I can think of a couple of mines in the UK, where such a system can be installed.

Conclusion

Hydrostor’s technology is standard process engineering, with all components and construction techniques well-proven in many decades of use.

I shall be watching Hydrostor with interest.

May 13, 2020 - Posted by AnonW | World | Compressed Air Energy Storage, Hydrostor