Epcogen secures contract for Highview Power’s liquid-air energy storage project in UK

India-headquartered technology and engineering solutions provider Axiscades Technologies Ltd has announced that its arm, Epcogen, has been awarded a long-term contract by Highview Power to deliver a 50 MW/300 MWh liquid air energy storage (LAES) plant in the United Kingdom. 

The deal follows an agreement with Hull-based engineering specialist Spencer Group to deliver a £23 million ($30 million) contract to design the site layout and deliver the enabling works and civils for the LDES facility announced mid July.

Ealier this year, the British LAES specialist raised the capital for its first large-scale project in a funding round led by the state-owned UK Infrastructure Bank and energy multinational Centrica. Other investors included Rio Tinto, Goldman Sachs, Kirkbi and Mosaic Capital.  

Construction at the site in Carrington, Manchester, will begin immediately, according to Highview Power, with commercial operation planned to begin in 2026.

Epcogen has been engaged by Highview Power to provide multi-discipline engineering activities, including process detailing, technical safety, static, rotary, piping, civil C structural, electrical, instruments, and telecom.

Epcogen began front-end engineering design (FEED) for the Carrington Power Project in mid-2022. The pre-engineering activities continued until 2024, helping to build investor confidence towards the EPC execution. The project is now moving into the EPC execution stage.

Breaking ground at Carrington follows more than a decade of LAES development from Highview Power. The company’s first grid-connected 2.5 MWh pilot plant in Slough, near London, operated between 2011 and 2014.  

Highview Power’s ambitions include the construction of four 2.5 GWh facilities in the United Kingdom. Each gigawatt-scale LAES will be located at strategic sites across the country, Highview said, in line with the electricity system operator’s (ESO) Future Energy Scenario Plans.

Epcogen is also involved in the FEED activities for Highview Power’s other larger-scale facilities.

LAES works by using excess energy to power an industrial liquefier that produces liquid air, which can then be stored in an insulated tank. When there is demand, stored air is pumped at high pressure, reheated and expanded, resulting in high pressure gaseous air which can be directed through a turbine to produce electricity.

Highview’s LAES also includes a hot thermal store and proprietary cold store which capture and store cold and hot air for use in the liquification and deployment processes. In addition to providing capacity at times of high demand, Highview Power says that its technology has potential to provide stability services to the National Grid.