Spencer Group has been awarded a £23m contract to support the UK’s first commercial-scale liquid air energy storage facility, marking a significant development in renewable energy storage solutions. This pioneering project will enable surplus energy storage from renewable sources, ensuring a reliable power supply even when natural resources are not active.
- The liquid air energy storage plant, situated at Trafford Energy Park in Carrington, Manchester, is poised to revolutionise energy storage capabilities with its large-scale technologies.
- The facility aims to store up to 300 MWh of energy, enough to power 480,000 homes, making it one of the largest in the world.
- Highview Power, the technology provider, has secured significant investments from prominent entities such as the UK Infrastructure Bank and Centrica, among others.
- Spencer Group’s involvement leverages their extensive expertise in large-scale energy projects, cementing their role in advancing the UK’s renewable energy transition.
Spencer Group has been entrusted with a critical role in designing the site layout and delivering the enabling works and civil construction for the United Kingdom’s debut commercial-scale liquid air long-duration energy storage facility. Situated at Trafford Energy Park in Carrington, Manchester, this £300 million development by Highview Power promises to store surplus electricity generated from wind and solar sources. This facility stands out as the first commercial-scale plant in the UK to deploy liquid air energy storage technology, which has been under development by Highview Power for the past 17 years.
This advanced technology facilitates the storage of renewable energy for extended durations, overcoming the limitations of existing battery technologies. The plant will have a substantial storage capacity of 300 MWh, sufficient to cater to the electricity needs of approximately 480,000 homes. Highview Power seeks to address a crucial challenge in renewable energy: ensuring a stable energy supply when wind and solar sources are inactive. By converting surplus energy into liquid air through a process of cooling, compression, and expansion, the stored liquid air can be transformed back into electricity on demand.
Highview Power’s innovations have attracted substantial financial backing, including investments from the UK Infrastructure Bank and Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, alongside notable investors like Rio Tinto and Goldman Sachs. The financial investments signify confidence in Highview Power’s approach to energy storage and the potential impact of their technology on the energy sector.
Construction efforts by Spencer Group, focusing on the civil aspects of the project, are scheduled to commence in late 2024, with the operational phase expected to begin in 2026. Spencer Group’s executive chairman, Charlie Spencer, expressed enthusiasm about the project: “We have a strong track record of delivering large-scale energy projects and we’re excited to expand our portfolio of works within this field with a project that will play a key role in the UK’s energy transition.”
Highview Power programme director John Goldie emphasised the collaborative spirit with Spencer Group, stating, “We are looking forward to continuing to build and further our relationship with Spencer Group, which we have developed over the past 24 months during the pre-execute phase of the Carrington project.” This collaboration underscores Spencer Group’s reputation for providing innovative and value-added solutions in engineering and construction.
Spencer Group’s involvement in this groundbreaking project signifies a major advancement in the UK’s renewable energy landscape, underscoring the importance of innovative storage solutions.
