Called liquid-air energy storage (LAES) the plant uses renewable electricity to compress air to extreme densities until it turns to liquid.

The world’s largest demonstration plant for a new kind of renewable energy storage is up and running in the west of the China. Called liquid-air energy storage (LAES) the plant uses renewable electricity to compress air to extreme densities until it turns to liquid. It can then be rapidly released to power a turbine and discharge that green energy back into the grid.

  • sumsinj@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    1 day ago

    Is ammonia a larger market because they produce their own grey H2 in the process of making ammonia?

    • humanspiral@lemmy.caEnglish
      3·
      1 day ago

      because they produce their own grey H2 in the process of making ammonia? yes.
      By market, I mean most H2 is sold under contract next door to an ammonia plant instead of “marketed”. Ammonia has direct farming application use, as well as input to solid fertilizer. It’s also the most practical green energy trade/longer term storage molecule.

      • sumsinj@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        1 day ago

        This needs a huge amount of energy surplus to provide enough in the summer and using ammonia for heat/energy is in direct contrast to using it using it for the market isn’t it? Except when you’d only use the expansion of liquid to gaseous and then use gaseous ammonia in a nearby plant. My guess would be anything green H2 will be too high demand and expensive to use as a fuel

        • humanspiral@lemmy.caEnglish
          2·
          1 day ago

          This needs a huge amount of energy surplus to provide enough in the summer

          Yes, but you need huge summer surplus solar to provide baseload in winter too. Ammonia in great lakes/mid west region market price is very profitable from solar production in the area.

          using ammonia for heat/energy is in direct contrast to using it using it for the market isn’t it?

          It’s more about making unlimited ammonia and still having a use for it for someone in the world in some season.

          My guess would be anything green H2 will be too high demand and expensive to use as a fuel

          Solar based baseload pricing can work at 2c/kwh daytime summer, and 15-20c/kwh daytime winter. Where legacy plants are kept around for 2 months of the year. But Ammonia is competitive to make/store for the winter and deliver power at around that cost, especially through home/V2H fuel cells, but also at higher backup power pricing. You need ammonia winter reserve for spring sales anyway.