The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced it has conditionally approved $45 million in funding to construct a 200 MW / 1600 MWh fuel-free energy storage facility.
To be developed by Hydrostor Inc, utilising their Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) technology, the company will be repurposing a disused mine at Broken Hill, New South Wales.
ARENA’s funding for the Silver City Energy Storage Project, developed by Hydrostor, is conditional upon the project reaching financial close, which is expected to occur in late 2023.
Once built, the project will be one of the world’s largest compressed air projects, providing at least 8 hours of storage.
The $652 million project will re-purpose a disused mine to facilitate the development of a subsurface air-storage cavity that will be used to store compressed air.
The project operates by compressing air during times of low electricity prices, storing it and releasing it through a turbo-expander to generate electricity during times of high demand and high energy prices.
The project is supported by Transgrid which earlier this year announced Hydrostor’s A-CAES technology as the preferred solution in the Regulatory Investment Test for Transmission (RIT-T) to provide back-up power supply for the city of Broken Hill. The project will reserve at least 250 MWh of storage for this back-up power service.
Hydrostor’s A-CAES technology provides an alternative to Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) for bulk energy storage, having a comparable price point and additional benefits including providing more flexible site selection, shorter development and construction times, and a lower environmental impact.