The Anonymous Widower

Is Sumitomo Heavy Industries Highview Power Energy Storage System On line At Hiroshima?

From some work I did at ICI in the 1970s, I believe that Highview Power may have an extremely promising way of storing energy.

The Highview Power web site talks of Sumitomo Heavy Industries, who are building one of Highview’s batteries at Hiroshima in Japan.

So I asked Google AI the question in the title of this post and received this comprehensive answer.

Yes, the Sumitomo Heavy Industries (SHI) Highview Power liquid air energy storage (LAES) commercial demonstration plant in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, is operational, having commenced operations on December 1, 2025.

Key details about the plant:
Location: Within the Hiroshima Gas Hatsukaichi LNG Terminal.
Capacity: 5 MW output with 4-hour storage (4 MW charging).
Technology: Uses Highview Power’s CRYOBattery™ technology, specifically utilizing waste cold from the adjacent LNG terminal to improve efficiency.
Role: The facility is designed to support grid stability and enhance renewable energy integration.
A completion ceremony for the project was held on December 9, 2025.
Note.
  1. It looks like the battery has a capacity of 4 MW/20 MWh.
  2. As it talks about using waste cold, this looks to be a very professionally-designed specialist application.
  3. But surely, that would be expected from a company like Sumitomo Heavy Industries.
Some of the systems, I mathematical-modelled for ICI could certainly have benefited from Highview’s technology.
How Many LNG Terminals Are There In The World?
I asked Google AI the question in the title of this section and received this answer.
There are hundreds of LNG terminals globally, with significant growth driven by over 300 projects (roughly 177 import/regasification and 124 export/liquefaction) expected between 2025 and 2030. In 2023, there were 22 countries with active liquefaction (export) capacity, while Europe alone operates roughly 28 large-scale terminals, supplemented by a rapidly expanding fleet of FSRUs.
Export Capacity: In 2023, global liquefaction capacity was 472 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), with top exporters being Australia, the U.S., and Qatar.
Expansion: By 2027, 52 new liquefaction terminals are expected to commence operations.
Import Growth: European regasification capacity is expanding, with major terminals in Spain, France, Italy, and new additions in Germany and other nations.
U.S. Infrastructure: The U.S. alone has more than 170 LNG facilities performing various services.
There are a lot of LNG Terminals.
  • They are listed in this Wikipedia entry.
  • There are around thirty in Japan alone.
  • Will Centrica add a 4 MW /20 MWh Highview Power battery to their Grain LNG Terminal?
  • Each facility installed is claimed to be designed to support grid stability and enhance renewable energy integration, so the last part must cut carbon emissions.
It would appear, that Sumitomo could keep busy for many years improving the efficiency of LNG Terminals.
Are There Any Chemical Engineering Processes That Give Out Lots Of Waste Cold?
I asked Google AI the question in the title of this section and received this answer.
Yes, several major chemical engineering and industrial processes generate significant amounts of “waste cold” (low-grade thermal energy or cryogenic energy) that is often discarded. While the chemical industry conventionally focuses on recovering waste heat, recovering waste cold is becoming increasingly popular for improving energy efficiency, particularly in cryogenic processes.
Here are the primary chemical engineering processes that produce large amounts of waste cold:
  1. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Regasification
  2. Cryogenic Air Separation Units (ASUs)
  3. Dry Ice and CO2 Liquefaction
  4. Liquid Nitrogen Vaporization
  5. Emerging: Cryogenic Carbon Capture
It seems to me that this could be a technology worth exploiting, which Sumitomo are already doing in the case of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Regasification.
How Was This Page Created?
  1. Creation of this page was not difficult, but you have to get the tricks right.
  2. I used Google Chrome and Google AI.
  3. My blog is hosted in WordPress.
  4. All pages on this blog, where I have had help in their creation from Google AI are tagged as such.

I would be happy to help anybody, who wanted to use Artificial Intelligence to create blog pages.

 

February 28, 2026 Posted by | Artificial Intelligence, Computing, Design, Energy, Energy Storage | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment