An engineering-led collaboration between Sulzer and Highview Power will help provide long-duration energy storage at Highview Power's new facility at Carrington, Manchester, which will be the first project to deliver commercial-scale liquid air energy storage to the UK
The signed agreement will see Sulzer supply eight molten salt pumps, five cryopumps and a selection of auxiliary services for the project.
Green power sources, such as solar and wind, offer large reserves of emission-free power, but they can be intermittent, and if they generate more supply than demand at any one time, they can overwhelm the grid.
In the UK, wind produces around 30% of all electricity; however, the grid operator often pays developers to turn their wind turbines off. This process is known as curtailment, and the issue continues to grow as the UK introduces more wind power supply into the grid.
Highview Power's liquid air energy storage (LAES) system provides a way to deliver more renewable energy into the power grid through its storage technology. The system captures excess power and releases it back during periods of increased demand or reduced generation and can offer critical grid stability services.
Richard Butland, CEO of Highview Power, said, “Excess energy is used to clean and dry air, which is then refrigerated and compressed until it liquefies and can be stored in tanks. When power is needed, the liquid is pumped at high pressure and heated, so it expands and drives a gas turbine to generate electricity.”
The new Carrington facility will use the cryogenic pumps and molten salt storage system supplied by Sulzer to recover and store energy that would have been wasted for use in heat generation.
Peak temperatures expected in the new plant are around 435°C, which is below the 650°C standard tolerance of Sulzer's specialist pumps. Despite this, the LAES project still has specific engineering challenges around the integration of the cryogenic pumps and molten salt pumps.
Rajesh Chakravarty, sales director for Sulzer Energy, Middle East, said: “Our experts have the knowledge and experience to ensure we provide industry-leading solutions, especially when that requires innovative thinking. This partnership relied on the customer trusting us to deliver the best possible outcome for them.”
“Molten salts represent a state-of-the-art solution to renewable energy storage, where energy providers can tap into excess production to smooth output at peak times and avoid costly excess. Given the collaborative nature of the project, we anticipate a 14-month manufacturing and delivery timescale despite the complexity involved, and we expect to see the plant operational by March 2027.”
