In Jiangsu province CAES adiabatic facility of total 2.4 GW*h capacity was put on stream. It was designed for long-term electricity storage. The project was implemented in Huai’an salt room, it consists of two power units 300 MW each operating without burning fuel and emitting CO₂.
According to Harbin Electric Corporation, the plant uses improved adiabatic scheme for energy storage. Electricity is accumulated by compressing air in the underground storage facility, and the heat emitted during this process is not lost, but accumulated using molten salt and pressurized heat transfer agent. During further electricity generation this heat is returned to the cycle allowing for significant improvement of the overall system performance and achieve 71% efficiency factor.
According to the company, the second-generation power unit was connected to the grid at the first try and immediately achieved the rated capacity, which is an important reliability indicator for such big units. The facility is capable of generating up to 792 GW*h of electricity per annum, performing as a major buffer between the generation and the consumption and improving the sustainability of the regional grid, including in the situation of the growing wind and solar generation share in the overall mix.
The Huai’an project became a next step in the development of Chinese energy storage technology based on compressed air. Previously Harbin Electric supplied equipment for the world’s first fuel-free CAES plant in Jintan salt room, as well as for the first 300 MW power unit of such type for Yingcheng in Hubei province.
All these projects are forming a pipeline for China to deploy GW systems for energy storage based on using salt rooms simultaneously resolving the tasks of decarbonization, improving sustainability of the electricity grids and bringing back the dead pits into business activity.
