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Energy storage plays a vital role within the UK’s electricity network, encompassing a wide range of technologies that vary significantly in size and application. From large-scale thermal storage systems filled with molten salt to innovative approaches involving liquid air, advancements in energy storage are evolving rapidly to support the growing use of renewables.
Renewable sources like solar and wind now generate over a third of the UK’s electricity, yet their intermittent nature creates challenges for maintaining a steady supply. Nathan Ritson, technical manager at renewable energy provider Good Energy, explains that “With the good old British weather, you find you’re over-generating at certain times, and under-generating at others.” To address this, storing excess electricity is essential, and battery technologies have become increasingly important. Batteries serve both domestic and commercial sectors and are also being deployed at grid-scale to help balance supply and demand across the country.
Beyond batteries, other promising storage technologies are emerging that could supplement the grid in the future. Flywheels, for example, have a long history dating back to Leonardo da Vinci and were famously utilized by James Watt to smooth the operation of steam engines. These devices store energy by keeping a rotor spinning and can release it quickly when electricity is needed. According to independent energy consultant Eugene Bryce, flywheels last for decades, can achieve efficiencies up to 90%, and charge and discharge rapidly, making them well-suited for grid balancing. While initial costs remain high and large numbers are needed for substantial power storage, flywheels are gaining traction worldwide. China recently connected the world’s largest flywheel storage facility in Shanxi Province, with 120 magnetic levitation units combining for 30 megawatts, enough to power about 10,000 UK homes.
Another novel approach involves liquid air energy storage, a technology first seriously considered in the 1970s but now moving towards commercial deployment. Excess electricity compresses and cools air until it liquefies, storing energy in this form. When electricity demand rises, the liquid air is warmed, expands back into gas, and drives turbines to generate power, somewhat like steam in traditional stations. In Manchester, the first commercial-scale plant employing liquid air is being developed by Highview Power and is expected to begin operation in 2027. This facility will capitalize on low-cost electricity to create storage and release power during peak demand. Shaylin Cetegen, an energy storage expert at MIT, notes that despite upfront economic challenges, liquid air “stands out as a particularly cost-effective option for large-scale storage.”
Thermal storage using molten salt offers yet another intriguing method, especially for providing power even when sunlight is absent. Concentrated solar plants in countries like Spain and Morocco focus sunlight to heat thermal oil or salt mixtures, which retain heat over long durations, enabling electricity generation via steam turbines at night. Beyond electricity, molten salt is increasingly explored as a means to store heat for industrial processes. The Kyoto Group in Norway exemplifies this by using renewable electricity to heat molten salt tanks, producing steam on demand to sterilize food products, among other uses. Robert Barthorpe from the University of Sheffield highlights the technology’s potential, describing molten salt as “a fantastic technology, offering high temperatures at industrial scale” and an “important part of the energy mix.” Other mediums such as sand are also being investigated, but salt remains a focal point due to its efficiency and scalability in heat storage
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