1. SENSE Workshop
Regenerative Air Energy Storage
22nd Nov 2013
Dr John Harrison
InnoTech Centre
South West College

5. $13,700 Billion
The expected cost of electric
infrastructure upgrades
worldwide over the next two
decades is almost $14 trillion.
More than 30% of this investment
serves a need that could be
economically met with energy
storage at the right price.

7. Which technology should we choose?
Compressed air -CAES

8. Problem: Compressing Air is hot business!
1978 - World's first CAES plant (290 MW) in Huntorf, Germany. (42% efficiency)
1991 - 110 MW plant with a storage capacity of 2,700 MWh in McIntosh, Alabama (54% efficiency)

9. Store heat as
well as
compressed air
Water can hold 3,300 times as much heat as the same volume of air,
and as such, it is able to capture the heat generated by the process
more effectively.

10. Goal: To Deliver the Lowest-Cost
Peak Power
Half the price of batteries. Competes with
conventional generation without subsidies.
LightSail Energy

11. A Fully Reversible Machine
LightSail Energy

12. Enhanced Energy Storage Benefits from Any Heat
Assumptions
•
•
Heat is available at various
temperature sources
Ambient temperature : 15°C
Increase in Energy Delivered vs Temp.
Low-Grade
Heat
MediumGrade Heat
Results and benefits
•
•
Any heat is converted to electricity
Up to twice the energy output in the
low-grade temperature range for a
given tank capacity  Cost of energy
capacity divided by two
Heat at 100°C decreases the
unit cost of air tanks by 30%
4.5% increase in output
every 10° increase over
ambient temperature

14. First-Generation Product Shipping in Q1-2014
Breakthrough Price and Service Life
Power Unit
•
•
•
•
500 kW modules
70% round-trip efficiency
20+ year lifetime
Selling price ≈ $1000 per kW
Storage Unit
•
•
•
•
•
1 MWh modules
Proprietary filament-wound tanks
Shipping container form factor
ASME certified
Selling price ≈ $200 per kWh
LightSail Energy Confidential

15. LightSail NI
A new Northern Ireland based Joint Venture to serve the
European, African and Middle Eastern Markets
LightSail Energy Confidential

16. The goal for LightSail, is to provide gridscale storage “as cost-effectively and
efficiently as pumped hydro, but without the
geographic restrictions.”

17. Thank you for listening
Any questions?

18. LightSail NI Ltd
Highly efficient, low cost bulk energy storage can bring many benefits...
• Matching electricity supply with demand
• Reduction of winter peak demand on existing power stations
• Avoidance of wind farm curtailment when there is too much wind generation
• Avoiding the need for additional grid capacity when connecting new wind farms
• Avoiding the need to upgrade electricity infrastructure including lines and sub-stations
• Storing night time energy to be delivered during the day
• Allowing higher penetrations of intermittent renewables onto the grid
• Increasing security of supply
• Reducing the dependency on imported fossil fuels
• Increasing the likelihood of achieving ambitious renewable energy targets
• Absorbs waste heat which allows good quality CHP at biomass plants for example
• Reduces the spinning reserve requirement
• Provides reactive power ancillary services – power factor control
• Reduces availability payments to fossil generators and alleviates fuel poverty
• Should allow fossil fuelled thermal power stations to be retired from service
• Stimulation of local manufacturing and project development
LightSail Energy

19. LightSail NI
Other more subtle technical benefits...
• Wide value chain impact – generation, transmission, distribution and consumer
Generation:
• Intermittent generation is smoothed
• Reduced ramp rates when wind farms go online and/or come offline
• Improved controllability when wind farms go online and/or come offline
• Generation capacity firming helps to maintain production within predictable limits
Transmission:
• Provision of local dynamic voltage support to help improve network stability
• Provision of instantaneous synchronised reserves
• Reduction in the need for standby fossil fuel fired OCGTs to be kept available
• Provision of support for frequency and area regulation
Distribution and consumer:
• Lowering of pressure on highly stressed parts of the grid operating near full load
• Lowers the need for investment in infrastructure to cope with peak loads
• Time-shifting from low to high tariff periods optimised return on investment
LightSail Energy