This study aims to investigate the feasibility of reusing uneconomical or abandoned natural gas storage (NGS) sites for compressed air energy storage (CAES) purposes. CAES is recognised as a viable means of high-capacity short- to mid-term energy storage. However, the widespread implementation of CAES is limited to geological and geographical settings and requires substantial infrastructure and capital investment. Utility-scale CAES requires a suitable trap that can contain compressed air without significant loss or leakage. Reusing of existing NGS systems and converting them into CAES can reduce the costs of exploration, geomechanical risk assessment and drilling into the trap, as well as the infrastructure cost, compressors and inter/after coolers. The cost, therefore, would be limited to acquirement of the site and installation of turbines, recuperators and transmission lines. The present study compares the net stacked benefit of converting NGS sites into CAES against that of conventional energy storage and development of CAES from the ground up. While site-specific economic analyses and technological viability are needed prior to large-scale implementation, results of this feasibility study suggest that reusing NGS sites for CAES has the potential to offer a cost-effective alternative for utility-scale energy storage.

中文翻译：

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重复利用废弃的天然气存储场所来存储压缩空气能量

这项研究旨在调查将不经济或废弃的天然气存储（NGS）站点重新用于压缩空气能量存储（CAES）的可行性。CAES被公认为是大容量中短期能量存储的可行方法。但是，CAES的广泛实施仅限于地质和地理环境，并且需要大量的基础设施和资本投资。实用规模的CAES需要一个合适的疏水阀，该疏水阀可以容纳压缩空气而不会造成重大损失或泄漏。重用现有的NGS系统并将其转换为CAES可以降低勘探，岩土力学风险评估和在疏水阀中钻探的成本，以及基础设施成本，压缩机和中间/后冷却器的成本。因此，费用将仅限于购置现场和安装涡轮，换热器和传输线。本研究比较了将NGS站点转换为CAES相对于常规能量存储以及从头开始开发CAES的净堆叠收益。在大规模实施之前，需要进行针对特定地点的经济分析和技术可行性，但这项可行性研究的结果表明，将NGS地点重新用于CAES可能为公用事业规模的储能提供具有成本效益的替代方案。