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Plan will convert air into power Trapped wind 'to ease power bills'
(about 8 hours later)
A £200m plan to store compressed air under Larne Lough would mean the price of electricity being stabilised, Irish company Gaelectric has announced. Wind turbines would be used in the energy-saving process.
The company said employment would be provided for 200 people during construction of the project. A £200m plan to store compressed air in chasms deep beneath County Antrim could help make it cheaper to produce 'green electricity', Irish energy company Gaelectric has announced.
The stored energy would be used to generate electricity in the nearby power station. The company said jobs could be provided for 200 people during construction of the project.
Previously, when too much electricity was generated, it could not be stored and was wasted. The scheme would use wind to generate compressed air which would be stored underground until needed.
The Gaelectric proposal would mean electricity generated by wind turbines would be used to force compressed air deep under Larne Lough. The air would then be used to drive electricity generating turbines.
The air would be stored in huge caverns flushed out of the rock salt hundreds of feet below the lough. Keith McGrane, head of offshore energy and and energy storage at Gaelectric, said the unique geology in the Larne area could be used to develop a Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) plant.
Then, when needed, the air would be used to turn the electricity turbines at the nearby Ballylumford power station. Energy storage is proven to be able to reduce both the peaks and troughs in demands leading to higher efficiency Professor Neil HewittUniversity of Ulster "One of the greatest challenges to unlocking the potential of wind power is to match generation with periods of peak demand," he said.
The system is already in use in the United States and Germany. "Gaelectric intends to deploy compressed air into underground geological caverns in the Larne area as a means to store energy generated from wind, for release during periods of peak demand or as required by the grid operator.
"Such technology has the potential to revolutionise renewable power-generation from wind."
Renewable
There are two CAES plant operational elsewhere in the world - one in the United States and one in Germany.
Professor Neil Hewitt, director of the Centre for Sustainable Technologies at the University of Ulster, said such a scheme could reduce the costs of producing renewable electricity.
"Energy storage is proven to be able to reduce both the peaks and troughs in demands, leading to higher efficiency," he said.
"Storage can allow alternative energy formats to reduce operating costs through energy which is supplied at some earlier time and delivered when required."