World's largest liquid-air energy storage plant rises in China's Gobi Desert

China is set to begin operating the world’s largest liquid-air energy storage facility, known as the Super Air Power Bank, located in the Gobi Desert near Golmund, Qinghai province. This innovative plant uses a process that compresses and cools air to -194 degrees Celsius, turning it into liquid air. When released, the liquid air expands over 750 times in volume, driving turbines to generate electricity. The facility can deliver up to 600,000 kWh per discharge cycle for up to 10 hours, producing around 180 million kWh annually—enough to power approximately 30,000 homes. It is designed to store excess electricity generated from renewable sources like solar and wind, helping to stabilize the grid by addressing the intermittent nature of these energy types. The Super Air Power Bank was developed by China Green Development Investment Group in partnership with the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (TIPC-CAS). The plant boasts a cold storage efficiency of over