East Asia Air Energy Storage Project Construction

A compressed air energy storage (CAES) project in Hubei, China, has come online, with 300MW/1,500MWh of capacity. The 5-hour duration project, called Hubei Yingchang, was built in two years with a total investment of CNY1.95 billion (US$270 million) and uses abandoned salt mines in the Yingcheng area of Hubei, China's sixth-most populous province.

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The project has set three world records in terms of single-unit power, energy storage scale and energy conversion efficiency, with total technological self-reliance for key core equipment and deep underground space utilization products, according to multiple project producers, including China Energy Engineering Corp (CEEC), on Thursday.

It claimed that the facility was 30% cheaper than the 100 MW project built by the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics and said its overall efficiency is 72%. The $207.8 million facility boasts an energy storage capacity of 300 MW/1,800 MWh and occupies an area of approximately 100,000 m2.

This milestone marks China's CAES technology entering the 300 MW era of engineering applications. Nengchu-1″ was independently developed by CEEC in collaboration with over a hundred domestic industry partners.

The $207.8 million facility boasts an energy storage capacity of 300 MW/1,800 MWh and occupies an area of approximately 100,000 m2. According to ZCGN, it is capable of providing uninterrupted power discharge for up to six hours, ensuring power supplies to between 200,000 and 300,000 local homes during peak consumption periods.