The UK's energy storage sector took “a great step forward” after completing what is thought to be the world’s first grid-scale liquid air energy storage (LAES) plant at the Pilsworth landfill gas site in Bury, near Manchester, the two companies involved have said.

After technology provider Highview Power and waste management specialist Viridor finished working on the 5MW/15MWh LAES plant, it was officially unveiled today by Professor John Loughhead, Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), almost three years after Highview revealed work was well underway on the demonstrator with backing from General Electric.

The project which was developed in partnership with Viridor, used £8 million of government funding to become the first operational demonstration of the LAES technology.

“We’re pleased to have been able to support the Pilsworth demonstrator through our Energy Innovation Programme aimed at accelerating the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies and processes,” Loughhead said.

“The deployment of smart, flexible technologies, such as energy storage, will help to ensure the UK has a secure, affordable and clean energy system now and in the future in keeping with the priorities within UK Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy.”

LAES converts air, which is stored as a liquid, into gas using an expansion process that releases stored energy to drive a turbine and generate clean electricity. Unlike battery storage, the process does not use any potentially harmful metals or chemical elements, being comprised mostly of steel.

This offers a lifespan of 30-40 years in comparison to around 10 for lithium-ion batteries, while at the end of life the plant can be easily decommissioned and the steel elements recycled.

Meanwhile, the long duration nature of the facility allows it to provide high levels of energy storage capacity to a number of reserve, grid balancing and regulation services.

In addition to providing energy storage, the LAES plant also converts waste heat to power using heat from the on-site landfill gas engines.

Gareth Brett, chief executive at Highview Power, said, “Support from government, our partners and our supply chain has enabled Highview Power to successfully design and build the world’s first grid-scale LAES plant here in the UK. The plant is the only large scale, true long-duration, locatable energy storage technology available today, at acceptable cost.”