Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) company Hydrostor has been awaiting word of approval for one of its large projects in California, and the California Energy Commission recently said that Hydrostor's application for certification for its Gem Energy Storage Center has been completed and will be located in Kern County builds a 500MW/4000MWh energy storage facility.
The "Apply for Certification" is part of the standard permitting process for all power generation projects over 50MW within the Commission's jurisdiction and requires sufficient project information for a decision to be made.
At the end of last year, Hydrostor submitted an application for the $975 million Gem project, claiming the project could come online by 2026, create 700 jobs during construction, and about 40 full-time jobs when it is operational.
Canada-based company Hydrostor has developed advanced compressed air energy storage technology it claims could greatly improve the efficiency of using compressed air for energy storage in underground caverns.
Advanced compressed air energy storage technology circumvents the use of fossil fuels, unlike traditional compressed air energy storage. The two existing 400MW-class compressed air energy storage facilities in the world are in the United States and Germany, and when releasing their stored energy, they need to absorb additional heat to preheat the air for expansion.
Instead, Hydrostor's technology employs a thermal management system where the heat released during compression is used to heat water, after which the hot water can be used for the subsequent steps of air expansion, an innovation that reduces the efficiency of compressed air energy storage from About 40% of the traditional technology is improved to 65% of the advanced compressed air energy storage technology.
Hydrostor has attracted the attention of some investors, such as Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which has said it will provide up to $250 million in investments based on Hydrostor's progress in the 1.1GW/8.7GWh development.
Hydrostor was the largest recipient of venture capital in energy storage in the first quarter of 2022, thanks to an investment from Goldman Sachs, and was backed by a further $25 million in funding from Canada in April, according to Mercom Capital.
In addition to the 4GWh Gem project, Hydrostor has also submitted a certification application for another project in California, the 400MW/3200MWh Pecho Energy Storage Center in San Luis Obispo County.
Advanced compressed air energy storage technologies can also be extended to longer durations, such as a GWh-scale project being developed by Hydrostor in Broken Hill, NSW, Australia.
The Silver City Energy Storage Center at Broken Hill will be a 200MW/1500MWh advanced compressed air energy storage facility that will participate in the Australian National Electricity Market when completed, and was recently selected as the preferred option by regional grid operator Transgrid for its ability to provide consumers Provides the highest net benefit and consumes more renewable energy.
