The world’s largest compressed-air energy storage (CAES) project has begun operations in East China’s Jiangsu province, marking a milestone in the country’s push to expand energy storage.
The facility uses large underground salt caverns to store energy, Bloomberg News reported, citing a statement from Harbin Electric.
The project features two 300-megawatt firing units with a total energy storage capacity of 2,400 megawatt hours.
The plant can generate 600 megawatts of power, enough to meet the demand of 600,000 households.
The CAES facility represents the most cost-effective method to store energy. It uses excess electricity from the grid during off-peak hours to compress air into deep subterranean salt caverns at night, for use during the day.
China’s energy storage capacity has seen rapid growth amid the country’s deployment of renewable energy.
The Chinese government has set a target of over 180 megawatts of new capacity by 2027, boosting the development of battery storage systems and alternative technologies.
