Chile's 50-MW/600-MWh LAES project wins approval

• UK-Chilean joint venture (JV) Highview Enlasa on Thursday protected the ecological approval to construct a 50-MW/600-MWh liquid air energy storage (LAES) center in Chile's area of Atacama, according to public records uploaded on the Chilean environmental agency's web service.

With an investment of USD 160 million (EUR 130.1 m), UK storage solutions company Highview Power as well as Chilean backup power distributor Energia Latina SA (Enlasa) will build a plant that will certainly liquefy atmospheric air at minus 196 degrees Celsius (-320 degrees F) making use of a Claude cycle prior to keeping it in thermally shielded tanks. When energy is required, the air is heated up and regasified to create a high-pressure airflow to drive a turbine as well as generate electrical energy.

The project is called ENSICOM, an acronym that stands for "energia sin burning", or energy without combustion, Highview Enlasa stated in its environmental impact statement (EIS).

The LAES plant will certainly be hooked to Chile's SEN grid from which it will have the ability to draw up to 100 MW to power the air conditioning and energy storage procedure. Highview Enlasa stated it wished to website the project in the Atacama region to capitalize on the solar PV build-out there that is just mosting likely to grow in the coming years.

Building is expected to begin in the initial quarter of 2024. The plant would certainly initiate procedures in 2026 and also compete an estimated duration of 40 years.