Compressed air energy storage system

Unlike some other chapters of the book which are presenting novel concepts or storage technologies with poor pieces of literature, there is extensive literature for compressed air energy storage (CAES) technology, including research articles, review papers, and project reports. However, for making the book as thorough as possible on its target energy storage categories (chemical and mechanical), one exclusive chapter has also been considered for the introduction and discussion of conventional configurations of the CAES technology. The current chapter will pres­ent an overview of the history and state of the art of better known CAES designs, a step-by-step energy and exergy modeling of such an energy storage plant, and the performance analysis results of that for a case study. This package is presented to minimize the need for the readers to study other references as long as they aim at understanding what a CAES technology is, where it started, how it was developed over the years, and how one could technoeconomically model an energy system that is equipped with a CAES plant. Finally, this chapter presents an explanation of how the authors see the future of the technology in terms of research and in the market.