China’s first salt cavern compressed air energy storage project begun operations in Changzhou City, east China’s Jiangsu Province on 26 May.
The Jiangsu Jintan Salt Cavern Compressed Air Energy Storage Project has a storage capacity of 300MWh and a power generating capacity of 60MW.
The project uses electric energy to compress air into an underground salt cavern, then releases air to drive an air turbine, which can generate power when needed.
The salt cavern is located around 1,000 meters below ground, and has a storage footprint equal to 105 swimming pools
The energy storage capacity in each cycle reaches 300,000kWh, equal to the daily electricity consumption of around 60,000 residents.
The energy storage system was co-developed by state-owned China National Salt Industry Group, state-owned power generation firm China Huaneng Group and Tsinghua University.