ABSTRACT
Hydrostatically compensated energy storage technology is a low-cost method of storing large volumes of electrical energy. Unlike conventional Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) systems, in this technology, an underground mined cavern or underwater air balloons are utilized for storage of compressed air. Therefore, the hydrostatic pressure of water will maintain a constant-pressure state during charge and discharge cycles. This configuration allows the system to store significantly more energy in a given volume than traditional CAES systems, allowing the system to be designed to perform optimally at a fixed pressure. By modeling a theoretical Hydrostatically Compensated (HC)-CAES plant, the efficiency of this technology is investigated via exergy analysis. This analysis reviles the primary sources of energy loss and shows that this technology has great potential for efficiency improvements in the future. Finally, areas of technical uncertainty of this technology are discussed specifying areas that need further study.
