REGINA - The Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) has formulated a white paper on the development of compressed air energy storage (CAES) in Saskatchewan.
It would be one possible solution to produce cost-competitive, low or emissions-free capacity electricity.
Using available and commercially-proven equipment, and known Saskatchewan geology, CAES could be used to fully integrate intermittent renewable energy sources into Saskatchewan’s power grid.
The PTRC said CAES technology has been proven at the industrial scale in Germany and the United States, and the PTRC added Saskatchewan is particularly blessed with the ideal geology to develop CAES projects.
CAES involves powering a compressor to store large volumes of air at depth in purpose-built salt caverns to later be released through a turbine during periods of high-power demand. The amount of power CAES could provide would be dependent on the size of the storage caverns and the capacity of the compression and generation equipment.
The white paper is available at the PTRC’s website. Brian Brunskill and Robert Stewart were commissioned by the PTRC to write the document.
The PTRC is a non-profit corporation founded in 1998 to facilitate research, development and field demonstration projects to reduce the carbon footprint and increase the production of subsurface energy.
The PTRC seeks to support industry, government and research providers to realize their environmental, social and governance needs. It strives to be the incubator, accelerator and developer of research and innovation to reduce the carbon footprint and increase the production of subsurface energy.
