Gallery: Highview’s CryoEnergy System Efficiently Stores Energy With Li...


One of the major issues with renewable energy technologies like solar and wind power is that energy generation tends to be intermittent — i.e. the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. Therefore, in order for such technologies to be capable of meeting our needs without the support of fossil fuels, we need to find effective and commercially viable ways to store energy. That’s why the guys at Highview Power Storage are getting particularly excited about their most recent technology – the CryoEnergy System (CES). CES takes excess energy generated and uses it to run refrigeration units which cool air down to a temperature of -196C (-320.8F), at which point it liquefies. The liquid air, also known as cryogen, can be stored in an insulated tank, and at times of peak-demand, when the direst output of existing energy sources cannot meet the demands of a power grid, this liquid air is released to generate energy.

Solving the energy storage problem would be a huge step towards emission-free power generation on a global scale. Once Highveiw’s CryoEnergy Storage system stores and releases air, the liquid boils, regasifies and expands by up to 700% when heated above -196C (so even room temperature can superheat it). This mega-high-pressured gas is then used to spin turbines which then power a generator.

The only by-product of the CES process is cold air, but what about its efficiency? When exposed to ambient air temperatures, the cryogen gas returns about 50% of the energy used in creating it. But as the amount of stored air increases so does the intensity of the regasification process, resulting in an efficiency of up to 70%. The process is perfect for facilities that generate large volumes of waste heat, as this could boost the efficiency of CES. Furthermore, the cold air produced by the process could even be used for air conditioning, refrigeration or even to create more liquid air. All of this increases the efficiency of the entire process.


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  1. David Barry October 7, 2012 at 12:49 pm

    The comment by Chris offspring, above makes a good point. Can some use be found for the waste heat produced when cooling the air to liquify it….?

    However I do have one quibble with the article. It points out that this is a better option than batteries but goes on to say that it is the “most efficient” As the Higview material makes clear, currently the most efficient way of storing electricity on a large scale is pumped storage. The problem is that you need a suitable site for pumped storage, and these are a matter of the right geography so while further pumped storage is being developed in Scotland the potential for more of it is limited. Hence the need to look for other methods.

  2. Chris Offspring April 1, 2011 at 10:59 pm

    I’m still thinking about this:
    while it sounds nice to have “cold air”, this air would be so cold, it would instantly freeze you. So powering a turbine with it would mean you’d have to pre-heat said turbine. That said, i’m wondering why this article doesn’t talk about the heat, that is produced when you cool down the air to cryogen. (And the cooling is definitly accomplished with the help of a heat exchanger)
    Storing the heat and then reusing it to keep the turbine from becoming a very giant paper weight, sounds like a good plan to me.
    And while we are at it: why use waste heat? It’s an option but not the only possibility. Setting up such cryoenergy systems near server farms or internet exchange points would wastly improve the efficiency of either the cryoenergy system or the server farm / IXP (or in general: everything that needs cooling, which right now is accomplished by normal electricity-using air-conditioners)
    Or look at big cities: Skyscrapers look nice with their all-glass covers, but need a lot of cooling in summer. Set up a cryoenergy system in each skyscapers basement and you can lower their energy consumption by quite a bit.

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