中国储能网讯：2022~2025年储能新增装机中的压缩空气储能渗透率或将达到10%。预计2025年累计装机容量达到7GW左右，2026~2030年新增储能装机中的压缩空气的渗透率有望达到23%。最近压缩空气备受投资资金的青睐的趋势就不奇怪了。

大约40年前，压缩空气储能（CAES）被视为一项具有高潜力的技术。有人认为它是未来的储能方式。当时只有两个工厂建成了-1979年的德国和1991年的美国阿拉巴马州，而在接下来的30年中这项技术未得到再次应用，人们似乎对压缩空气储能（CAES）失去了兴趣。

About 40 years ago, compressed air energy storage (CAES) was viewed as a technology with high potential. Some saw it as the energy storage medium of the future. Only two plants were ever built – one in Germany in 1979 and another in Alabama in 1991 – and none in the following thirty years. It seemed that interest in CAES had died.

事情变化就是这么突然。最近全球产业分析师的一项研究“压缩空气储能-全球市场轨迹和分析”预测，到2026年全球CAES市场规模将达到103亿美元。虽然这个数字可能有些乐观，但背后有它实质性的依据。例如，中国刚刚在北部的张家口市上线了一个100 MW的CAES系统变体。

How suddenly things change. A study by Global Industry Analysts, “Compressed Air Energy Storage – Global Market Trajectory & Analytics”, predicts that the global CAES market will be worth $10.3 billion by 2026. While that number may be optimistic, there is substance behind it. China, for example, just brought online a 100 MW CAES system variant in the city of Zhangjiakou in northern China.

这种CAES复兴是由解决长时储能问题的需求驱动的。像加州在电网上装有大量风能和太阳能，迫切需要一种方法来储存多余的可再生能源的。

This CAES revival is driven by a need to solve the problem of long-duration energy storage. States like California with high amounts of wind and solar on the grid urgently need a way to store excess renewable energy.

“长时储能（LDES）技术正在为确保加利福尼亚电网的可靠性做出重要贡献，”长时储能理事会执行董事朱莉娅·索德尔说。“加利福尼亚必须制定强有力的投资鼓励政策，并为LDES这样的创新技术制定监管框架，以继续扩大清洁能源市场，使我们在未来走向净零排放。”

“Long duration energy storage (LDES) technologies are making significant contributions to ensure the reliability of California’s electric grid,” said Julia Souder, Executive Director, Long Duration Energy Storage Council. “It is imperative that California create strong investment signals and devise regulatory frameworks for innovative technologies like LDES to continue to expand clean energy markets and move us toward a net-zero future.” GO DEEPER: FlexGen CCO Yann Brandt joined Episode 35 of the Factor This! podcast to answer your burning questions about energy storage. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

储能难题

Energy storage conundrum

压缩空气储能使用压缩空气储存能量，以便在高峰时段使用。可再生能源的使用激增引发了对各种储能技术的兴趣。其中最重要的是电池，它们最近获得了大量资金和经济激励措施。然而，电池储能只提供了几个小时的储存时间。它们是良好的短期备用电源。

Compressed air energy storage uses compressed air to store energy to be used later during peak demand hours. The surge in the use of renewable energy has generated interest in all manner of energy storage technologies. Chief among them is batteries, which have recently received an enormous amount of funding and economic incentives. Yet batteries provide only a few hours of storage. They are a good short-term source of backup power.

但是长时储能怎么办？它是充分利用可再生能源发电的必要条件。风力通常在晚上和清晨最强，往往只在非高峰时段可用。太阳能更有规律的，因为日照时长可以更可靠地预测。风能和太阳能往往在电网非高耗能的固定时段发电，因此需要一种方法来储存这些多余的能量，以便在风能或太阳能不能发电时可以使用。

But what about long-term storage? It is vitally needed to fully capitalize on renewable generation. Wind generally blows strongest during the night and in the early morning. It tends to be available mainly at off-peak times. The sun is more regular. The daylight hours can be predicted with more confidence. Solar provides plenty of power during the day but drops off as the afternoon progresses. Wind and solar often produce more power at certain times than can be consumed by the grid. A means of storing this excess energy is needed so it can be used when wind or solar energy may not be available.

发电厂正在以创纪录的数量建造电池储能系统，以利用多余的可再生能源并在高峰时段使用它，但这些不是长时储能系统。同时，人们正在投资于电解水技术，将多余的可再生能源转化为氢气以供以后用于发电，作为替代或补充天然气的一种方式。这些都是值得称赞的努力，但它们还是未能解决能量长时间储存的问题。因此，CAES被越来越被视为解决储存挑战的一种可行且经济高效的方式。

Power producers are building battery energy storage systems in record numbers to harness excess renewable energy and use it during peak hours, but these are not long-duration systems. Similarly, money is being spent on electrolyzer technology that converts excess renewable energy into hydrogen to be stored for later use for power generation as a way to replace or augment natural gas. These are laudable efforts, but they fail to address the problem of long-duration storage. CAES is being increasingly viewed as a viable and cost-efficient way to address the storage challenge.

CAES的案例

The case for CAES

位于德国的Huntorf（320兆瓦）和阿拉巴马州的McIntosh（110兆瓦）两个CAES项目已经高效运行了几十年。这些设施使用非高峰电力来运行压缩机，向地下储藏室(如盐穴)注入空气。

Two CAES projects have been running efficiently for decades in Huntorf, Germany (320 MW) and McIntosh, Alabama (110 MW). These installations use off-peak power to run compressors that inject air into an underground storage chamber such as a salt cavern.

在高电力需求时段，从储存室中抽出压缩空气，对其进行预热，然后引入燃烧器中，天然气被点燃以进一步加热空气。热膨胀的气体驱动膨胀涡轮机，该涡轮机连接到发电机并为电网产生电力。燃料消耗比现代联合循环发电厂要好得多。该系统产生的能量比压缩空气所需的能量还要多。

During hours of high electric demand, compressed air is withdrawn from the cavern, preheated, and introduced to combustors where natural gas is fired to further heat the air. Hot expanding gases drive expansion turbines that are connected to a generator and produce electricity for the grid. The fuel rate is considerably better than that of a modern combined cycle power plant. The system produces more energy than is needed to compress the air.

由Power South所有的阿拉巴马州McIntosh电站于1991年投入运营。它由一系列机械设备组成，这些设备包含Dresser Rand品牌的（现Siemens Energy）压缩机和膨胀机，一个电机/发电机和一个巨大的盐洞。充满压缩空气的盐洞需要约40小时，之后发电机可以满负荷运行约25小时。该设备能够可在9分钟内进行紧急启动，且可全年运行。它在需要时提供峰值功率，或者在秋季和春季帮助稳定电网，或根据市场情况提供备用电力。燃料成本、电力价格和电网条件决定CAES设备的运行方式。

The McIntosh plant in Alabama was commissioned in 1991. It is owned by utility Power South. It comprises a single machinery train with two Dresser Rand (now Siemens Energy) compressors and expanders, a motor/generator, and a huge salt cavern. It takes about 40 hours to recharge the cavern with compressed air, after which the generator can provide power at full capacity for about 25 hours. The unit performs emergency starts in nine minutes and the plant runs all year round. It provides peaking power when needed and otherwise helps control the grid in fall and spring or provides backup power based on market conditions. Fuel costs, electricity prices, and grid conditions determine how it is operated.

机械设备由低压（LP）、中压（IP）和高压（HP）压缩机、LP和HP涡轮膨胀机以及SSS自同步离合器组成。离合器的接合或分离控制电机/发电机用于驱动压缩机或者用于发电。

The machinery train consists of low-pressure (LP), intermediate-pressure (IP), and high-pressure (HP) compressors, LP and HP turbo-expanders, and self-synchronizing clutches manufactured by SSS Clutch. It is the engagement or disengagement of the clutches that controls whether the motor/generator is used to drive the compressor or generate grid power.

经过30年的运营，Power South现在正在进行维修/翻新和升级其涡轮膨胀机和其他组件的维护工作。

After 30 years of operation, Power South is now engaged in maintenance work to repair/refurbish and upgrade its turbo-expanders and other components.

SSS Clutch的首席执行官Morgan Hendry表示“在McIntosh CAES电站多年无故障运行后，SSS Clutch的产品现在需要离线进行一些维修和升级”。

“After many years of trouble-free service at the McIntosh CAES plant, it is offline for some repairs and upgrades,” said Morgan Hendry, CEO of SSS Clutch.

在停机期间，Power South要求SSS Clutch公司拆下并检查运行了三十年的220T压缩机离合器。并将其运至SSS Clutch位于特拉华州新城的总部进行了详细的检查和测试。这是自220T压缩机离合器最初投入使用以来的第一次检查。

As part of the outage, Power South asked his company to remove and inspect the size 220T compressor clutch that had been operating for three decades. It underwent a detailed inspection and testing at the SSS Clutch headquarters in New Castle, Delaware. This was the first such inspection since it was originally commissioned.

“经过近30年的使用，离合器的状态良好，这为电站对压缩机离合器的维护和保养提供了最佳实践” Hendry说。

“The clutch was found to be in good condition after nearly 30 years of service, a testament to the care the plant has given to its equipment and maintenance best practices,” said Hendry.

离合器的存在意味着压缩空气储能（CAES）工厂可以在驱动压缩机或发电之间切换。（图片来源：SSS Clutch）

CASE市场兴趣激增

CAES interest surges

南方电力公司将更多资金投入到CAES电厂可能与这样一个事实有关，即随着长时储能问题变得更加突出，大家对CAES的兴趣正在飙升。近年来，美国、中国、日本、加拿大、澳大利亚、德国和欧洲其他国家都宣布了CAES项目。

The fact that the Power South plant is putting more money into its CAES plant may be related to the fact that interest in CAES is surging as the problem of long-duration storage comes into sharper focus. Countries such as the U.S., China, Japan, Canada, Australia, Germany, and other parts of Europe have announced projects in recent years.

好消息是，在世界大部分地区都有许多适合CAES的存储地点。根据EPRI的数据，美国约85%的地域可以用于CAES。北欧也有很多潜在的地区，其中一些已经用于天然气储存。

The good news is that there are many suitable storage locations for CAES throughout much of the world. According to the EPRI, about 85% of the U.S. has geologic sites that could work for CAES. Northern Europe, too, has plenty of potential sites, some of which are already used for natural gas storage.

一些项目是用传统技术的CAES。另一些项目刚是新CAES添加元素的混合示例。以下是其中的一些亮点:

Some of the projects being considered are traditional CAES. Others are hybrid examples that add elements to CAES. Here are a few of the highlights:

Bethel能源中心324 MW(16000 MWh)CAES项目已通过审核，该项目位于德克萨斯州ERCOT市场的Anderson县。它将使用电驱动的压缩机来压缩空气，并使用天然气涡轮膨胀机来发电。其优势在于，减少约90%排放的同时，它提供的快速启动辅助服务能力可媲美2000MW联合循环电厂。

The Bethel Energy Center is a fully permitted 324 MW (16,000 MWh) CAES facility destined for Anderson County, within the Texas ERCOT market. It will use electric motor-driven compressors to compress the air, and natural gas-based turboexpanders to generate power. The advantage is that it will be able to provide the same volume of fast-start ancillary services as a 2,000 MW combined cycle plant while reducing emissions by about 90%.

加拿大公司Hydrostor在加利福尼亚州Rosamond建造CAES项目的审批/许可流程进展顺利。Willow Rock能源存储中心(前身为Gem能源存储中心)将提供500 MW(4000 MWh)的电力。计划在一年左右开工。

Canadian company Hydrostor is well advanced along the approval/permitting pipeline to build a CAES facility in Rosamond, California. The Willow Rock Energy Storage Center (formerly Gem Energy Storage Center) will provide 500 MW (4,000 MWh) of power. Construction is scheduled to begin in a year or so.

Hydrostor的首席执行官Curtis Van Walleghem表示:“在50多年的项目生命周期内，Willow Rock项目每年减少的碳排放量等同于12万辆汽车所产生的碳排放量。”

“Willow Rock will be capable of eliminating the equivalent of roughly 120,000 cars off the road every year over its 50+ year project life,” said Curtis Van Walleghem, Hydrostor’s Chief Executive Officer.

它的工作方式和南方电力公司有点不同。压缩空气被储存在位于2000英尺深的洞穴的气舱中。通过排出气舱的水保持空气的压力，这些气舱被固定在地表排出水的溢出池中。发电时，空气从洞穴中释放出来，在热水箱中加热，并用于为涡轮机提供动力。澳大利亚新南威尔士州的Hydrostor公司也在开发一个类似的项目。- 200MW/1500MWh的Sliver City储能中心。

It works a little differently than the Power South site. The compressed air is stored in pods that sit in a 2,000-foot cavern. Air is retained at pressure by displacing water in these pods, which are held in a spill pond on the surface. To generate power, air is released from the cavern, heated in hot water tanks, and used to power turbines. A similar project is under development by Hydrostor in New South Wales, Australia. –the 200 MW 1,500 (MWh) Silver City Energy Storage Centre.

液体空气储能(LAES)是CAES的一种变体，该技术使用液体空气而不是压缩空气。例如，Highview Power正在西班牙各地开发高达2GWh的长时LAES。多达七个Highview公司的“CRYOBatteries”使用液态空气作为存储介质。非峰值电力被用来生产液态空气。两个小型项目已经在英国运行。

Liquid air energy storage (LAES) is a variation on CAES using liquid air rather than compressed air. Highview Power, for example, is developing up to 2 GWh of long-duration LAES across Spain. Up to seven of Highview’s “CRYOBatteries” use liquid air as the storage medium. Off-peak power is harnessed to produce liquid air. Two small-scale versions are already operating in the UK.  

与此同时，Just In Time Energy提供了一种优化的LAES流程，据说该流程可以从给定数量的液态空气中提供更高的功率，并提高了项目的经济性。该公司还开发了一种用液化天然气(LNG)代替液态空气的气电联合存储系统。在非高峰时段，利用多余的可再生能源生产液化天然气，在液化天然气返回管道时驱动设备向电网输送电力。

Just In Time Energy, meanwhile, offers an Optimized LAES process that is said to provide increased power from a given amount of liquid air and better project economics. The company has also developed a combined gas and electric storage system that replaces liquid air with liquefied natural gas (LNG). The LNG is produced at off-peak times using excess renewable power and returned to the pipeline systems concurrently with power delivered to the grid

中国新上线的100MW系统，据说使用了超临界储热而不是使用天然气来提高系统效率。它可以储存高达400 MWh，效率为70%。

And the newly online Chinese 100 MW system is said to use supercritical thermal storage to boost system efficiency instead of natural gas. It can store up to 400 MWh at 70% efficiency.

Highview Power的CRYOBatteries为英国某个运营设施提供长时间电力。（图片来源：Highview Power）

在过去的二十年中，许多CAES项目被提出，但后来被放弃了，缺乏资金是其中的原因之一。其中包括俄亥俄州的Norton CAES 项目、爱荷华州的另一个CAES项目、北爱尔兰的安特里姆县、纽约州的塞内卡CAES项目、德国的Adele项目以及计划在加利福尼亚州San Joaquin建立的PG&E CAES项目。其中一些项目可能会再度引起人们兴趣。

Over the last two decades, a number of other CAES projects have been proposed and later abandoned. Lack of funding was part of the reason. These include the Norton CAES facility in Ohio, another in Iowa, one in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, the Seneca CAES Project in New York state, the Adele project in Germany, and a PG&E CAES facility planned for San Joaquin County, California. It is possible that interest in some of these projects may soon revive.

激励措施和资金

Incentives and funding

重新对传统和混合CAES产生兴趣的原因之一是更好的资金投资潜力。2022年美国通胀削减法案为广泛适用于能源储存技术提供了高达30%的税收抵免。加上CAES技术的低耗能（LCOE），CAES项目备受投资的青睐。

Part of the reason for the renewed interest in traditional and hybrid CAES is better funding potential. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides a tax credit of up to 30% that broadly applies to energy storage technologies. Coupled with the low levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of CAES, funding possibilities have grown in recent times.

上一次包括CAES在内的LCOE的全面比较是由咨询公司Lazard在2016年完成的。

The last comprehensive comparison of LCOE that included CAES was done by consulting firm Lazard in 2016.

自那时起，电池储存价格已经下降。但是来自NREL的最新成本预测仍将锂离子电池储存定位在约300美元左右。因为锂的可用性和能源安全问题被人们重视起来。

Battery storage prices have declined since then. But the latest cost projections from NREL still place lithium-ion battery storage at around $300. And issues have emerged about the availability and energy security of lithium.

Lazard似乎已经改变了计算LCOE的方式，现在称之为LCOS（用于储存）。它没有与CAES进行比较。但是Lazard在其2021年底的报告中指出：

Lazard appears to have changed the way it calculates LCOE and now calls it LCOS (for storage). It doesn’t include a comparison with CAES. But Lazard noted in its late 2021 report:

“随着可再生能源发电普及率的提高，人们对长时储能技术的兴趣也在不断增长。”

“Interest in longer-duration technologies continues to grow in tandem with expectations of ever greater penetration of renewable energy generation.”

因此，CAES市场肯定比几十年前更活跃。但尚不确定我们是否会在未来几年见证CAES或混合CAES的复兴。

The CAES market, then, is certainly more vibrant than it has been for decades. But it remains to be seen whether we will indeed see a CAES or hybrid CAES renaissance in the coming years.