Highview Power Unveils CRYOBattery, World’s First Giga-Scale Cryogenic Battery

Highview Power¹, the global leader in long-duration energy storage solutions, is pleased to announce that it has developed a modular cryogenic energy storage system, the CRYOBattery², that is scalable up to multiple gigawatts of energy storage and can be located anywhere. This technology reaches a new benchmark for a levelized cost of storage (LCOS) of $140/MWh for a 10-hour, 200 MW/2 GWh system. Highview Power’s cryogenic energy storage system is equivalent in performance to, and could potentially replace, a fossil fuel power station. Highview Power’s systems can enable renewable energy baseload power at large scale, while also supporting electricity and distribution systems and providing energy security.

Highview Power’s proprietary cryogenic energy storage technology, which uses liquid air as the storage medium, provides all the services essential for a robust grid including time shifting, synchronous voltage support, frequency regulation and reserves, synchronous inertia, and black start capabilities. Unlike competing long-duration technologies, such as pumped hydro-power or compressed air, Highview Power’s CRYOBattery™ can be sited just about anywhere. The CRYOBattery has a small footprint, even at multiple gigawatt-levels, and does not use hazardous materials.

Alex Eller, senior research analyst with Navigant Research, said, “Long-duration technologies such as cryogenic energy storage will become increasingly necessary for an electricity system to transition from a primary reliance on conventional fossil fuel generation to a grid dominated by variable renewable generation from solar and wind.”

“This is a pivotal moment for the renewable energy industry and for anyone who wants to deploy large amounts of renewables,” said Javier Cavada, president and CEO of Highview Power. “As more and more renewables are added to the grid, long-duration, giga-scale energy storage is the necessary foundation to make these intermittent sources of power reliable enough to become baseload. Not only does our CRYOBattery deliver this reliability and allow scalability—it is proven, cost-effective, and available today.”

Cavada said Highview Power’s CRYOBattery can enable grid operators to maximize renewable penetration without needing fossil fuel generation to make up for intermittency. “This makes replacing gas peaker power plants with a combination of solar, wind, and energy storage a viable reality and truly sets the stage for a future where 100% of the world’s electricity comes from clean energy sources,” he said.

Other locatable, long-duration energy storage technologies—such as Lithium-ion—typically offer a range of 4-8 hours of storage, whereas Highview Power’s CRYOBattery offers multiple gigawatt hours of storage, representing weeks’ worth of storage, not just hours or days.

Over the last 15 years, Highview Power—through the design, construction, and operation of its CRYOBattery technology—has developed and optimized its own proprietary BLU² core controller system. The system embodies the sum of Highview Power’s market-leading knowledge and expertise into a complete facility management system. The BLU™ controller seamlessly integrates the control of all CRYOBattery components to provide optimal facility performance—managing the balance between flexibility, efficiency, and response.

The BLU controller enables a system to be configured to a particular application through the selection of individual operational modes. It also provides operation and performance monitoring feedback, ensuring a facility’s optimal efficiency. The system’s embedded flexibility further ensures that the controller has the built-in capacity to adapt as a facility’s demand varies with market development.

“After looking at a number of storage technologies, we came to the conclusion that Highview Power’s CRYOBattery is the ideal solution to deliver long-duration, large-scale storage services to our customers. The technology is not only cost-effective—it is scalable, clean, has a long lifespan, and can be deployed now,” said Joaquín García Rico, CEO of TSK, a leading global engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) company. Highview Power recently announced a joint venture with TSK to co-develop CRYOBattery projects in Spain, the Middle East, and South Africa.

Highview Power has partnered with Finland-based Citec to modularize its gigawatt-scale cryogenic energy storage system. With a simplified design and streamlined engineering from Citec, a standard CRYOBattery configuration of 50 MW/500 MWh can be easily, and cost-effectively, scaled up to multiple gigawatt hours.

Highview Power recently won the 2019 Ashden Award for Energy Innovation with its proprietary CRYOBattery™ technology.

¹ Highview Power is the trading name of Highview Enterprises Limited. Registered in England and Wales with Registered Number: 4489271. Registered Office: Suite A, 6 Honduras Street, London, EC1Y 0TH.

² CRYOBattery and BLU and the associated logos are trademarks of Highview Enterprises Limited and Highview Power Storage, Inc and should not be used without the prior written permission of Highview Enterprises Limited.