A British energy company called Highview Power Storage, along with Encore Renewable Energy, a developer of renewable energy generation and storage projects, say they plan to build the United States’ first liquid air energy storage system somewhere in “northern Vermont”. This facility will be “a minimum of 50MW, provide in excess of eight hours of storage (400MWh).”

The Vermont facility will contribute to resolving the longstanding energy transmission challenges surrounding the state’s Sheffield-Highgate Export Interface (SHEI) and enable the efficient transport of excess power from renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power to help integrate them on the power grid. With Highview Power’s liquid air energy storage solution, excess or off-peak electricity is used to clean and compress air which is then stored in liquid form in insulated tanks at temperatures approaching 320 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-196 C). When electricity is in high demand and more valuable, the pressurized gas is allowed to warm, turning a turbine as it expands and thus generating energy that can be used at peak times when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing.

Highview Power’s proprietary liquid air energy storage system is called CRYOBattery. The company says it has “zero water impact and can be delivered at a cost of approximately half of the current cost of traditional lithium-ion batteries. “