Massive underground air battery project lands $1.76B DOE award

• The Biden administration has offered a $1.76 billion conditional loan guarantee to Hydrostor’s Willow Rock advanced compressed-air energy storage project in California, which aims to store energy using compressed air in underground caverns.
• Hydrostor’s A-CAES system uses water to maintain pressure in caverns, enhancing efficiency and allowing for construction in more varied geological settings compared to traditional CAES systems, which require impermeable salt caverns.
• The Willow Rock project could become one of the largest energy storage facilities globally, addressing California’s long-duration energy storage needs while competing with established lithium-ion batteries, which are currently dominant but may not meet future extended storage requirements.

Read more