Highview has marked a milestone in UK energy storage with the official ground-breaking of its liquid air energy storage (LAES) facility at Trafford Low Carbon Energy Park, near Carrington, Manchester.
The event on 21 November 2025 was attended by Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, alongside Highview’s CEO Richard Butland, chairman Colin Roy, and Andrew Western, MP for Stretford and Urmston.
The Carrington plant is set to become the world’s largest commercial-scale LAES facility. It will provide 300MWh of storage capacity and deliver 50MW of output for six hours, supplying clean power to around 480,000 homes. The liquid air energy storage plant will connect to existing transmission infrastructure and incorporate a stability island to reinforce local grid resilience against outages.
Speaking at the ceremony, Andy Burnham said, “Storing renewable power so it’s there when people need it will be essential for Greater Manchester in the years ahead. This project is an important step in that direction, and it’s already supporting jobs and skills in the area through its construction and supply chain. It’s also significant that this is the first development on the Trafford Low Carbon Energy Park, setting the tone for what we hope will become a major centre for clean energy in Greater Manchester.”
Highview’s liquid air energy storage technology stores surplus renewable energy as liquid air, which can later be expanded to generate electricity. Unlike other storage systems, it operates without degradation for 40–50 years, is modular, and supports the shift from fossil fuels to wind and solar.
