Burlington, ON - September 2020
Working closely with our client partner Hydrostor, TWD provided assistance with commissioning, start up and optimization performance of the Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) Facility in Goderich, Ontario.
The facility represents a pivotal advancement in long-duration energy storage and a world first in the successful commercialization of fuel-free (adiabatic) CAES technology. The Goderich A-CAES Facility is commercially contracted to Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) for peaking capacity, ancillary services, and full participation in the merchant energy market to support grid reliability. Entirely fuel-free, the plant produces zero greenhouse gas emissions, and helps enable a cleaner, more affordable, and more flexible electricity grid.
The facility has 1.75 megawatts (MW) of peak power output; a 2.2 MW charge rating; and 10+ megawatt-hours (MWh) of storage capacity. This achievement is a first-of-its-kind utility-scale commercial application of A-CAES technology, conforming to all interconnection, uptime, performance, and dispatch standards as set out by the IESO. The facility proves out the ability of Hydrostor’s A-CAES technology to fully participate in and deliver a range of valuable grid services to electricity markets.
Hydrostor’s A-CAES technology works by using electricity from the grid to run an air compressor producing heated compressed air. The heat is extracted from the air stream and stored for later use on discharge. The cooled compressed air is then sent underground and stored in a cavern, which can be either pre-existing or purpose-built to suit system requirements. When the grid requires dispatchable energy capacity, the air is brought back to the surface, re-collects the stored heat, and is expanded through an air turbine to generate power on demand.
Sid Meloney, Hydrostor’s EVP of Engineering & Projects shared “The successful commissioning and optimization of the Goderich facility was an extremely important effort for Hydrostor. TWD really stepped up with a team that helped us co-ordinate our efforts and troubleshoot issues in an effective and timely manner. TWD also integrated well with our team which was a key element that contributed to our mutual success on this effort.”
The Goderich A-CAES Facility also received an Energy Storage North America Innovation Award, recognizing its excellence and leadership in energy storage and positive impact on the industry.
Hydrostor is a developer of utility-scale energy storage facilities that can be flexibly sited using its proprietary Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) technology and purpose-built underground storage caverns. A-CAES is unique as a grid storage solution: it provides low-cost bulk long-duration storage like pumped hydro, but has the key ability to be flexibly sited where the grid needs it, allowing the targeting of high-value (and immediately available) grid applications like transmission deferral and fossil plant replacement. The technology operates similarly to a conventional natural gas plant but is entirely non-emitting, is much more cost-effective than batteries at scale with a 50+-year asset life, and is ideally suited to providing the long-duration storage resource necessary for decarbonizing the grid. Hydrostor has three projects in operation or under construction in Canada and Australia, and is advancing a pipeline of large-scale A-CAES projects that already represents over 2 GW and 16 GWh of deployment potential in the USA, Canada, Chile, and Australia. For more information, visit www.hydrostor.ca.
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