Design of an Energy Storage System ACAES Applied to Marine Renewable Energy: Study Case Based on Energy Integration Approach

Abstract

Abstract Marine energies (including wind turbine, tidal current and wave energy) are now recognized not only as high potential energy sources, but also as a significant and maturing energy market. Nevertheless, renewable marine energies are highly intermittent and so adequate energy storage systems are a main challenge for renewable marine energy development, to make it reliable and compatible with domestic and industrial power demand. This paper focuses on the ACAES (Adiabatic Compressed Air Energy Storage) technology. It presents a study case of a large wind turbine farm (320MW capacity). After a state-of-art review on energy storage systems, the ACAES technology is selected as the most adequate solution for this case to store renewable energy, which means to store the entire produced power during low demand periods and to return all the stored energy during high demand periods. The operating principle of an ACAES system is that, using produced renewable energy, air is first compressed to be stored during low energy demand period. Storage is made through some natural cavity. Then the air is expanded during high energy demand period to return stored energy. A parallel heat transfer medium is used to make the system adiabatic. An efficiency assessment is performed and key parameters are identified thanks to a heat and mass modeling and sensitivity studies. A suitable solution is selected and the storage system is sized, including process equipment (air compressors and turbines, motors and generators, pumps, water facilities as hot water storage and cold water storage, heat exchangers) and electrical systems. The required footprint is assessed by drawing a layout and a three-dimensional representation. The CAPEX of the selected ACAES system is estimated. Possible installation of this kind of storage system is assessed through a research on geological cavern and a review of available and possible air storages. This work offers a comprehensive overview of a typical Adiabatic Compressed Air Storage installation, applying O&G plant design expertise to an emerging alternative energy, to make it reliable.