Financial viability of liquid air energy storage applied to cold storage warehouses.

Cold storage warehouses (CSWs) are large energy consumers and account for a significant portion of the global energy demand. CSWs are ideally suited for solar renewable energy, as they generally have large flat roofs and their peak demand can coincide with the sun shining. A challenge with fluctuating renewables is their variability, which means generation may not coincide with demand. Liquid air energy storage (LAES) is a technology that stores electrical energy as a cryogenic liquid. This paper presents two strategies for using LAES at CSWs, firstly to shift the import of energy from peak to off-peak tariffs and secondly to store on site renewable energy when there is a surplus and use when not. The financial viability of these strategies is then investigated taking into account the capital cost of the LAES and the money that can be saved due to the differences in tariffs at different times.