What is compressed air energy storage (CAES)?

S. Hari Charan Cherukuri, in Journal of Energy Storage, 2021 Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) is an option in which the pressure energy is stored by compressing a gas, generally air, into a high pressure reservoir. The compressed air is expanded into a turbine to derive mechanical energy and hence run an electrical generator.

How does compressed air energy storage work?

The operation principle behind compressed air energy storage is simple. When there is excess electricity in a system, a fluid is compressed in a large impermeable cavity. The fluid remains in the cavity at high pressure until there is a need for power.

How is air compressed?

Air is compressed using compressors and is stored in the storage tanks. Over the surface storage tanks are used for lower rating and underground storage tanks are preferred in case of very high capacity plants. The compressor is run by the motor generator to which the excess available energy is fed.

What is a compressed air energy storage plant?

Compressed air energy storage (CAES) plants are largely equivalent to pumped-hydro power plants in terms of their applications. But, instead of pumping water from a lower to an upper pond during periods of excess power, in a CAES plant, ambient air or another gas is compressed and stored under pressure in an underground cavern or container.

What is the theoretical background of compressed air energy storage?

Appendix B presents an overview of the theoretical background on compressed air energy storage. Most compressed air energy storage systems addressed in literature are large-scale systems of above 100 MW which most of the time use depleted mines as the cavity to store the high pressure fluid.

What is advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage?

In current CAES technology, the compressed air used to create electricity is supplemented with a small amount of natural gas or other fuel. A different type of CAES that aims to eliminate the need of fuel combustion, known as Advanced Adiabatic Compressed Air Energy Storage (AA-CAES), has recently been developed.