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27 December 2007 - RWE Power has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GE for the joint development and validation of a zero-emission storage technology (Advanced Adiabatic Compressed Air Energy Storage -AA-CAES) with higher efficiency than current available solutions.
The memorandum is aimed at finding alternative paths for large-scale energy storage in an effort to better align distribution of supply and demand currently within the electricity market.
"The highly fluctuating power input is expected to increase in the future, if only because of the planned massive expansion of wind energy. Therefore it is important to address this challenge and develop concepts for efficient storage in due time", explained Dr. Johannes Lambertz, CEO of RWE Power AG, fossil power plants portfolio.
"Hence, RWE Power and GE will initially conduct a joint feasibility study to be completed by end of 2008. Based on the findings of this study, a first demonstration plant is scheduled for 2012."
AA-CAES is a zero-emission storage technology with higher efficiency with respect to current available energy storage solutions. A major challenge will be to develop a compressor technology that can withstand high temperatures during compression and ensure high availability of Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) power plants.
To prevent this heat from being lost, it is extracted from the compressed air before the latter is stored in a cavern, and directed to a separate thermal energy storage.
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