Source: pv magazine Global
Qinghai's 60 MW liquid-air energy storage facility is the first grid-scale deployment of a technology that converts excess electricity into compressed liquid air for later discharge. The 600 MWh capacity addresses a real constraint: grids with high renewable penetration need storage that holds charge for days, not hours. If the facility achieves competitive round-trip efficiency—still unproven at scale—it could match lithium batteries on cost for long-duration storage. That would reshape which technologies attract public funding over the next decade. China's lead matters because LAES competes directly with the battery supply chains America and Europe are trying to localize.