Overview of Current Development in Compressed Air Energy Storage Technology

TLDR

Rapid electricity demand growth has highlighted the benefits of electrical energy storage, positioning compressed air energy storage as a key commercialized technology alongside pumped hydro, with adiabatic CAES and small‑scale facilities offering low‑carbon and flexible power system solutions. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of multi‑scale CAES technologies, covering their working principles, development status, technical and economic characteristics, existing facilities, application potentials, and future challenges. The authors review various CAES configurations, summarizing their operational principles, current development, technical and economic profiles, installed facilities, application prospects, and associated challenges to guide future deployment.

Abstract

With the rapid growth in electricity demand, it has been recognized that Electrical Energy Storage (EES) can bring numerous benefits to power system operation and energy management. Alongside Pumped Hydroelectric Storage (PHS), Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) is one of the commercialized EES technologies in large-scale available. Furthermore, the new advances in adiabatic CAES integrated with renewable energy power generation can provide a promising approach to achieving low-carbon targets. The small-scale CAES facilities are also attracting attention for more flexible power system applications. This paper will present an overview of different types of multi-scale CAES, including their working principles, current development, typical technical and economic characteristics, existing facilities, application potentials, challenges and issues associated with the future development of CAES.