Highview Power to Bring its Giga-scale Cryogenic Energy Storage to the Chilean Market
Dr. Javier Cavada, CEO of Highview Power, the global leader in long-duration energy storage solutions and developer of the patented giga-scale cryogenic energy storage solution, met with the Hon. Susana Jiménez Schuster, Minister of Energy. During his visit, Dr. Cavada, a leading figure in the global energy industry, discussed the company's ambitious expansion strategy into the Chilean market, and encourage the government to increase its 2050 renewable energy goals to 100% before UN climate talks, COP205, which will be located in Santiago in December of 2019.
"I am honored to meet with the Chilean Minister of Energy who has been such a strong proponent of renewable energy domestically and internationally," said Javier Cavada, CEO of Highview Power. "Our company shares Chile's ambitious goals for a 100% renewable energy future and our cryogenic storage technology can help the Chilean energy market achieve clean energy targets faster - and more cost-effectively - with clean solutions that are affordable, scalable and built for the long term."
Highview Power's expansion into Chile comes at a crucial time for the country as growing energy demand, high electricity costs, and changing consumption patterns require energy solutions that are clean, reliable and cost-efficient while supporting the nation's grid, providing critical backup power during power outages and natural disasters and solving problems for key industries, like mining.
Chile Leading the Way Toward a 100% Clean Energy Future
Chile is currently implementing its 2050 Energy Strategy, which commits the country to renewable energy targets of at least 60% by 2035 and 70% by 2050 for electricity generation. The costs for renewable energy continue to drop dramatically as the country gradually phases out coal plants without carbon capture and energy storage (CCS).
Highview Power's cryogenic systems are the only long-duration energy storage solution available today that are locatable and operate at giga-scale for long duration - meaning they offer multiple gigawatt-hours of storage for weeks, not just hours or days. Highview is proving that with the right technology and solutions, renewables can meet baseload (24-hour per day) demand and complement and ultimately replace thermal and nuclear baseload, in addition to supporting the electricity transmission and distribution systems while providing additional security of supply. Chile is ideal for baseload renewable energy due to its rapidly growing solar market, which made up 9.4% share of Chile's power generation in 2019. More grid operators are turning to long-duration energy storage to help improve power generation economics, balance the grid and increase reliability.
Energy is Key to Economic Development and Foreign Investment
Mining - particularly copper mining - dominates energy consumption in the country, but high energy costs are hindering economic development and international investment. While the existing grid is strong, Chile needs an additional capacity of 8,000 megawatts by 2020 just to meet the mining sector's rising demand, a challenge that is further compounded by the lack of new energy facilities coming online.
Highview Power's expansion into Chile will help replace expensive diesel backup generators - which are both expensive and difficult to transport to remote mining area - with cryogenic energy storage plants that are locatable anywhere. As markets around the world focus on drastically reducing carbon dioxide emissions, there is an accelerated shutdown of traditional coal-fired power stations and massive deployment of intermittent renewable energy plants (mostly solar PV and wind). This is causing grid reliability issues that are dependent on weather conditions, which drives demand of long-duration energy storage to ensure a stable and reliable grid.
In fact, the global market for long-duration energy storage could soar as high as $1.1 trillion by 2040.
Cryogenic energy storage plants - besides being the most suitable solution to balance renewables and enable reliable renewable baseload power - support and accelerate the energy transition when combined with traditional thermal power plants. The plants can optimize operations utilizing waste heat and cold into their process which enables even more affordable and sustainable power production. When shutting down and dismantling old power stations, the existing infrastructure and connections left behind become the perfect location to install cryogenic energy storage plants, solving the challenge of integrating massive amounts of renewables while retiring traditional assets.
Highview Power's Cryogenic Energy Storage - Cool Air Technology for a Cooler Planet
The benefits of cryogenic energy storage technology could solve a host of energy challenges for Chile and other countries in the region, as the international community advances toward a 100% renewable energy future.
Highview Power's cryogenic energy storage systems have pumped-hydro capacity without any geographic constraints. Its proprietary technology uses liquid air as the storage medium and can deliver anywhere from 20 MW/80 MWh to more than 200 MW/1.2 GWh of energy, has a lifetime of 30 to 40 years, and can easily be decommissioned and recycled at the end of life. Highview Power enables critical operations for utilities and independent power producers by delivering the lowest cost clean energy solution for large scale, long-duration applications. Best of all, Highview Power's patented cryogenic energy technology uses only benign materials and has zero emissions to deliver the cleanest solution for storing energy - nothing but fresh air in, fresh air out - making it the best energy storage choice for our planet.
Highview Power | www.highviewpower.com
