Britain needs green energy storage. The shift towards green energy is essential for combating climate change and ensuring a sustainable future. However, integrating renewable power comes with a unique challenge: weather dependency. Green energy sources like wind and solar are subject to natural variation, meaning that power isn’t always being generated when we need it – or, too much power is being generated for the grid to handle.
To create a stable, low-carbon power supply and balance the supply and demand of renewables, we need a long-duration green energy storage solution, capable of grid-scale storage.
One of the most promising green energy storage solutions is geological energy storage.
What is Geological Energy Storage?
Geological energy storage involves using underground caverns to store vast amounts of energy for later use. A key method of geological energy storage is compressed air energy storage, or CAES.
Our Green CAES technology improves on the traditional CAES model, using a thermal energy management and storage system to recover lost heat from the compression process and reuse it in the power cycle, eliminating any harmful emissions and increasing efficiency.
How Green CAES Works:
- Surplus green energy powers air compressors.
- The compressed air is then stored in underground salt caverns or other geological formations at high pressure.
- When energy demand increases, the stored air is released, expanded, and flows through turbines, generating clean electricity on demand.
Green CAES essentially transforms geological formations into massive underground batteries, capable of storing energy for months at a time.
The Benefits of Geological Energy Storage
1. Long-Duration Energy Storage
Unlike lithium-ion batteries, which typically store energy for hours or days, geological storage can retain energy for very long durations. This makes it ideal for balancing renewable energy generation with grid demand.
2. Scalable Green Energy Storage
Salt caverns and other underground formations can hold enormous amounts of energy. These caverns are abundant throughout the UK, and the infrastructure required for a CAES plant can be built using readily available equipment. As such, CAES provides a scalable solution for storing renewable electricity.
3. Cost-Effective Storage
Compared to battery storage, geological energy storage has lower operational costs, and a much longer lifespan. It avoids the costly replacements and rare material dependencies associated with lithium-ion batteries.
4. Sustainable and Environmentally Friendly Energy Storage
Salt caverns have been used safely for natural gas storage since the 1960s. They offer a low-impact, sustainable alternative to battery storage, which requires resource-intensive mining and complex disposal solutions.
Challenges of Geological Energy Storage
Despite its advantages, geological energy storage does face some challenges:
- Geological limitations: Not all regions have suitable geology for underground storage.
- Grid connection delays: As with many clean technology projects, energy storage faces long grid connection queues, delaying deployment.
However, upcoming grid connection reforms in 2025 aim to streamline this process, accelerating the adoption of green energy storage.
How Green Energy Storage Supports Renewable Integration
Geological energy storage plays a critical role in integrating renewable energy into the grid.
- Solar power generates the most energy during daylight hours, but demand peaks in the evening.
- Wind power is unpredictable and can generate excess energy at times when it isn’t needed.
By storing excess renewable energy and releasing it when demand is highest, geological storage ensures that low cost, clean energy is never wasted. This supports a more stable and resilient energy grid whilst lowering consumer bills.
At Storelectric we are developing innovative energy storage and hydrogen production technologies. By repurposing salt caverns, relics of the fossil fuel era can be given new life as clean energy technology hubs.
Read more about Storelectric’s energy storage technology to see how we’re powering the transition to a greener future.
Why Geological Energy Storage Outperforms Batteries
When you hear about energy storage, most commonly it is in reference to batteries due to their current commercial availability. While batteries have their place in short-term energy storage, they face significant limitations:
- Short operational lifespan compared to geological storage.
- Reliance on scarce resources like lithium and cobalt.
- High lifecycle costs due to degradation and replacement needs.
- Limited capacity for large-scale, long-duration storage.
By contrast, Storelectric’s CAES solutions offer:
- Five times the plant life of lithium-ion batteries.
- Greater efficiency and lower operational costs.
- Ability to provide multiple grid services, such as balancing supply and demand.
The Path to a Cleaner, Greener Future
To achieve net zero and secure energy independence, the UK needs reliable, large-scale energy storage solutions. Geological energy storage provides the long-duration, cost-effective, and sustainable storage that the green energy transition demands.
