China is taking a major step forward within the nascent Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) space. The Huaneng Group recently kicked off phase two of its Jintan Salt Cavern CAES campaign, which is set to be the world's largest project of its kind, per Interesting Engineering.
The Jintan Salt Cavern work began all the way back in 2022, with nationally owned Huaneng unveiling full plans, as PV Magazine noted. In 2024, the company launched a successful first phase that included a 60-megawatt (MW) unit.
Now, after learning from phase one, Huaneng will up the capacity considerably with two 350-MW non-fuel supplementary CAES units. That will equate to 2.8 gigawatt-hours of electricity storage per full charge, which Interesting Engineering says is the highest in the world.
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Definitely 👍 CAES is an exciting technology, and in this case, it leverages a salt cavern located over 3,000 feet underground. Huaneng says its approach requires no external fuel sources and is thus a pollution-free, clean energy source. As Bloomberg explains, CAES requires unique topographical features like deep underground salt caverns that are abundant in China. Within the caverns, the innovative CAES tech allows Huaneng to continually store and reuse heat generated via air compression.
The energy conversion efficiency is greater than 60%, and startup times have been cut from 20 minutes to a mere five, per Interesting Engineering. The project could play a major role in stabilizing China's grid when it comes to the intermittency concerns of solar energy and wind energy.
Huaneng's project might be the biggest in the world, but the company is far from the only one trying to use CAES to solve energy challenges. Toronto-based startup Hydrostor is working on its own projects that could sprout up in California and Australia. Israel-based BaroMar is exploring a similar project in Cyprus.
Huaneng faces domestic competition from competitors like China Energy Engineering Corp, which recently launched its own 300-MW project, as PV Magazine reported. Alternatives to CAES include industrial-sized batteries like Tesla's Megapacks, which have made a major difference in stabilizing the grid in Texas, for one example.
China, in particular, can stand to benefit from CAES and other energy storage solutions, given its massive investments in other clean energy sources. The country has played host to a battle to build the biggest typhoon-proof wind turbines imaginable, for instance.
Given China's status as the world's biggest polluter, per Our World in Data, the shift to clean energy sources could make a major difference in the transition away from dirty energy that heats the planet with dangerous consequences.
In the future, CAES can play a major role in backstopping the country's grid and aiding the country in a full transition to clean energy.
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