China’s new feat: ‘super cold air battery’ built in desert, power from air to light up 30,000 homes

Beijing (The Uttam Hindu): China has taken another major step in the field of energy storage. In the outskirts of Golmud city in Qinghai province, amid the Gobi Desert, the world’s largest liquid air energy storage facility is being developed. In technical terms, it is being referred to as a “super cold air battery.” The project has drawn global attention not only because of its massive scale but also due to its unique working mechanism.

At the facility, air is compressed under high pressure and cooled to minus 194 degrees Celsius, turning it into liquid form. This liquid air is stored in large white tanks. Whenever electricity demand rises, the stored liquid air is used to drive turbines and generate power.

According to a report by Interesting Engineering, the giant “super air power bank” has been developed by China Green Development Investment Group in collaboration with the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The plant is expected to begin operations soon. It has the capacity to supply 600,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity in a single cycle and can operate continuously for up to 10 hours. On an annual basis, the plant is expected to generate around 180 million units of electricity, enough to meet the power needs of nearly 30,000 households.

The working process of the plant is based on advanced scientific principles. Initially, electricity is used to purify the air, which is then compressed and cooled to convert it into liquid form for storage in large tanks. When the power grid requires electricity, the liquid air is reheated. As it warms up, it rapidly expands back into gas form. This expansion drives turbines, producing electricity. The entire system is directly connected to a 250,000-kilowatt solar farm located in the Gobi Desert, ensuring efficient use of renewable energy.

The need for such a plant arises because solar and wind energy are not always consistent and fluctuate depending on weather conditions, affecting grid stability. Researcher Wang Junjie explained that balancing supply and demand becomes difficult due to the unpredictability of solar and wind power. This new plant will store excess electricity and release it when sunlight or wind is unavailable, helping maintain a stable power supply. Experts believe this technology could prove to be a game changer for the renewable energy sector in the future.