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Cryogenic energy storage firm Highview Power has secured a $46 million investment as part of a new partnership with Sumitomo Heavy Industries.
The UK-based start-up has pioneered a new type of energy storage system that uses surplus power to compress air and then cool it until it condenses into a liquid. When electricity is needed the air is reheated, causing it to evaporate back into gas and drive a turbine as it expands.
Highview Power claims the technology, which it has dubbed CRYOBattery, has the potential to provide low-cost, long-duration energy storage at a large scale.
The company has been operating a 5MW/15MWh demonstration plant in Manchester since 2018 (see picture below) and in October 2019 announced plans to build the first in a series of 50MW/250MWh commercial plants on the site of a decommissioned power station in the North of England.
It has also sketched out plans for a “gigaplant” with a maximum power output of 200MW and a storage capacity of 1.2GWh and says there are no technical barriers to creating even larger facilities.
The partnership with Japanese industrial equipment manufacturer Sumitomo Heavy Industries (SHI) will enable to the firm to expand into new markets across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Highview Power president and chief executive Javier Cavada said: “Highview is proud to have a partner like Sumitomo Heavy Industries next to us as we further our global expansion.
“By partnering with a large technology company with the reputation of SHI, we will be able to benefit from their vast know-how, resources, and operating experience in diversified markets.”
SHI vice president Shaun Dean and Tomas Harju-Jeanty, the chief executive of its subsidiary Sumitomo SHI FW, will both join Highview’s board.
“One of the biggest barriers to a carbon-free future has been the ability of renewables to perform as reliably as, and as cost-effectively as traditional fuel sources,” said Harju-Jeanty.
“Highview Power’s long-duration energy storage technology not only solves the problems that enable dispatchable renewables but will be a catalyst in bringing the energy transition forward.”
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