Highview Power has secured a £300 million investment to build the UK’s first commercial-scale liquid air energy storage (LAES) plant.
This funding comes from the UK Infrastructure Bank, Centrica and a consortium of investors including Rio Tinto, Goldman Sachs, KIRKBI and Mosaic Capital.
The new facility will be located in Carrington, Manchester and will become one of the largest long duration energy storage (LDES) plants globally.
With a storage capacity of 300MWh and an output of 50MW per hour for six hours, construction will commence immediately, aiming for the facility to be operational by early 2026.
The project is expected to support over 700 jobs during construction and in the supply chain.
Centrica is investing £70 million to support the Carrington project and accelerate the deployment of the technology across the UK.
Following this initial project, Highview Power plans to develop four larger 2.5GWh facilities throughout the UK, with a projected total investment of £3 billion.
These facilities will align with the UK’s LDES support mechanisms and the National Grid‘s future energy scenario plans.
Highview Power’s LAES technology, developed over 17 years, can store renewable energy for several weeks, which is longer than battery technologies.
The storage system will help capture and store excess renewable energy, reducing curtailment costs and ensuring a steady supply of renewable energy.
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