Updates in the compressed air energy storage (CAES) market are hard to come by. Although the technology was proven viable years ago, actual utilization hasn’t occurred for a number of reasons. Geology, however, is the biggest culprit.
Traditional designs for compressed air energy storage have air sealed inside pressurized salt caverns. Finding a large enough cavern that can also withstand the pressure without leaking is difficult. As Julian Spector, Staff Writer at Greentech Media said, “It’s not exactly a buyer’s market.”
This doesn’t mean several organizations haven’t tried pursuing the technology. The reality is, however, that lithium-ion batteries have a majority of the energy storage market on lockdown.
But Hydrostor, the advanced compressed air energy storage company based in Canada, is putting its money on a proprietary solution to shake up the market: it’s called Terra.
While a small industrial building is the only visible footprint Terra leaves, the underground grid-scale, long-duration storage asset could have a huge impact on the market in the relatively near future.
The President and CEO of Hydrostor, Curtis VanWalleghem, wants Terra to be used to offer cheap grid electricity and discharge when needed, and perform transmission decongestion and renewables integration roles.
Is all of this a little over your head? No worries. Here are six aspects of the Terra tech that you need to understand.
The New System is Already Bankable
With $10 million in equity, around $10 million in government grants, and revenue from its first project in Ontario running another $10 million, Hydrostor has laid a strong business foundation before officially launching Terra.
But this on its own is not enough to attract the big-ticket clients away from reliable lithium-ion storage. To prove they not only had the resources but the reliability, Hydrostor partnered with a couple industry leaders.
AECOM joined forces with the company after an extensive review of operational data from the pilot project and market analysis. What’s more, this multi-billion dollar company has guaranteed Terra’s projects for over 30 years. The lifetime of a lithium-ion battery is a fraction of that.
Canoe Financial, a privately owned investment manager, has committed to project financing. The backing from both firms makes the Terra projects financially bankable.
That’s crucial for the kinds of customers the firm is courting: primarily large, traditional utilities.
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