Abandoned mine in Australia to be converted into country’s first compressed air energy storage facility

The Australian government has taken a liking to the idea of ​​storing energy reserves underground in compressed air. This technology was first implemented in Germany fifty years ago, but today the Chinese have become the absolute leaders in this field. Australia has literally a sea of ​​solar energy, and its surplus is becoming a headache for the continent’s energy specialists. The country’s first project to pump air underground will begin implementation this year and, in all likelihood, will not be the last.

Image source: Hydrostor

The Canadian company Hydrostor will build an air-compression system for storing excess energy from renewable sources in Australia. An abandoned mine near the mining town of Broken Hill in New South Wales (NSW) has been selected for its implementation. The site’s equipment will allow storing 1.6 GWh of electricity with a total capacity of 200 MW.

Hydrostor has already entered into a contract with the owner of the local high-voltage transmission line that connects the town to the national Australian electricity distribution grid to supply any surplus power to the national grid. The town itself will be able to run on compressed air batteries for days or even weeks.

The company will specifically reserve 250 MWh of energy at 50 MW to power the city during periods of power outages, which are quite common in the region due to hurricanes. Two diesel generators are currently used for this purpose, but will be eliminated once the project is up and running.

The contractor estimates that construction of the facility will take three to four years. Work will begin later this year. Once operational, air will be compressed and pumped into the mine using excess energy from wind and solar power plants in the region. If necessary, the air will be heated and sent to turbines for generators that produce electricity for consumers. Investment in the project will amount to 655 million Australian dollars ($415 million).