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World’s largest renewable energy storage project announced in Utah, USA

  • 4 years ago (2019-05-31)
  • David Flin
North America 998 Renewables 751 Storage 37

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) and Magnum Development have announced the launch of the Advanced Clean Energy Storage (ACES) project in central Utah, USA. In the world’s largest project of its kind, the ACES initiative will develop 1000 MW of 100 per cent clean energy storage, deploying technologies and strategies essential to a decarbonised future for the power grid of the western United States.

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Magnum Development owns and controls the only known domal-quality salt formation in the western USA. With five salt caverns already in operation for liquid fuel storage, Magnum is continuing to develop Compressed Air Energy Storage and renewable hydrogen storage options. Strategically located adjacent to the Intermountain Power Project, the Magnum site will be able to integrate with the western US power grid using existing infrastructure.

The ACES initiative will deploy four types of clean energy storage at utility scale. These energy storage technologies include:

  • ·         Renewable hydrogen
  • ·         Compressed air energy storage
  • ·         Large-scale flow batteries
  • ·         Solid oxide fuel cells.

Paul Browning, President and CEO of MHPS Americas, said: “For 20 years, we’ve been reducing carbon emissions of the US power grid using natural gas in combination with renewable power to replace retiring coal-fired power generation. In California and other states in the western United States, which will soon have retired all of their coal-fired power generation, we need the next step in decarbonisation. Mixing natural gas and storage, and eventually using 100 per cent renewable storage, is that next step. The technologies we are deploying will store electricity on time scales from seconds to seasons of the year. For example, when we add gas turbines powered with renewable hydrogen to a hydrogen storage salt-dome, we have a solution that stores and generates electricity with zero carbon emissions.”

As a next step in decarbonisation, MHPS has developed gas turbine technology that enables a mixture of renewable hydrogen and natural gas to produce power with low carbon emissions. The MHPS technology roadmap aims to use 100 per cent renewable hydrogen as a fuel source, which will allow gas turbines to generate electricity with zero carbon emissions.

The ACES project will engineer, finance, construct, own, and operate facilities to be located in Millard County, Utah. Over the coming weeks and months, additional strategic and financial partners will be invited to participate.