Highview Power to build 50 MW/250 MWh cryogenic storage plant in UK

Highview Power said Monday it will build a 50 MW/250 MWh cryogenic energy storage facility in North of England, touted as the largest battery storage system in Europe.

The UK energy storage firm has plans for more projects using its CRYOBattery in the UK and is in the process of securing sites. Highview Power’s proprietary technology uses liquid air as the storage medium, enabling capacities of more than 200 MW/1.2 GWh. The battery and has a lifespan of 30-40 years.

“[..] at approximately GBP 110/MWh for a 10-hour, 200 MW/2 GWh system, the CRYOBattery offers the lowest levelized cost of storage for large-scale applications,” Highview Power calculates.

The North-of-England project will be the UK’s first commercial cryogenic energy storage facility. It will be built at a decommissioned thermal power plant. The battery will provide grid stability services to the National Grid and will support a further increase in the share of renewables in the mix. The facility could also deliver market arbitrage, frequency management, reserve, and grid constraint management services.

Highview Power said it is in talks with potential offtakers to contract for the capabilities and services the CRYOBattery plant can provide.

The company has already installed and put online two cryogenic energy storage plants in the UK. The first one, a pilot plant of 2.5 MWh, was commissioned in 2014 in Slough, Greater London. A much bigger demonstration facility, of 15 MWh, was opened in 2018 in Bury, Greater Manchester.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.29/EUR 1.16)

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