China's compressed air energy station to power 600,000 households

The Huai’an Salt Cavern Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) demonstration project in Jiangsu Province, China, has become the world’s largest fully operational compressed air energy storage station. Featuring two 300 MW non-supplementary combustion CAES units, the facility has a total installed capacity of 600 MW and an energy storage capacity of 2,400 MWh, with about 71% conversion efficiency. The project uses abandoned salt mine caverns located 1,150 to 1,500 meters underground to store compressed air during low-demand periods, which is then released to generate electricity during peak demand, supporting grid stability through peak shaving and frequency regulation. The project employs advanced “molten salt + pressurized thermal water” high-temperature adiabatic compression technology that stores and reuses compressed heat without fossil fuel combustion, offering significant low-carbon benefits. With a total investment of $520 million, the station is expected to generate 792 million kWh annually, enough to power