China Is Ready to Make Electricity Out of (Not So) Thin Air

Energy storage is a key part of China’s plan to build a larger and more flexible grid. Photo: Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — China is set to connect its first commercial compressed-air energy storage plant to the grid as it seeks more ways to harness fast-growing clean power resources for around-the-clock use.

China Huaneng Group Co. said its Jiangsu Jintan Salt Cave project recently underwent four days of successful trials and is now ready for commercial operations. The 60-megawatt plant will be the largest compressed air energy storage plant built anywhere in the world since 1991, and the first in China outside of small-scale technology demonstration projects, according to BloombergNEF.