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Compressed air energy storage (CAES) offers the ability to be integrated with the CSP to shape and shift the generation delivered to the electric grid from the power plant (if required by tariff or electric grid operator) or can be resouce of the electric grid itself as a system managed load/generator.
CAES is based on efficiently compressing and storing air when loads are otherwise light (off-peak) and returning the electricity by expanding the compressed air by heating to turn an air driven steam turbine when generation is required.
Larger CAES plants which use heat to expand the compressed air in the turbine cycle would likely take advantage of depleted wells or abandoned pipelines for the bulk air storage. Heat of expansion for compressed air energy storage unit integrated into the CSP would take advantage of the molten salt for expansion of the stored air. An independent larger CAES plant would likely heat the air by efficiently burning a bio or fossil fuel. CSP based CAES will not be as efficient as the burning fuel due to the lower temperature.
Many variations of CAES are currently in development including SustainX version which is modularized1 MW using water, no heat from burning, and no large storage volume of compressed air. Large CAES units burning fossil fuel are proven in commercial application operating for over20 years. Dresser announced a new large CAES unit to be built in the southern United States.
Royal Daniel
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