Handbook of Energy Storage for Transmission or ... - W2agz.com

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The Norton CAES power plant (illustrated in Figure 11) will be the world’s largest at 2,700
MW e when it is fully completed. It is anticipated that the first 300-MW e unit will come on line
in 2003 [20]. Norton Energy Storage LLC is constructing this CAES plant in Norton, Ohio. The
site and the limestone mine were purchased in October 1999, four years before the anticipated
startup date. The compressed air is stored in an abandoned limestone mine at a depth of 2,200
feet below the surface with a total volume of 338 million cubic feet. The cavern air pressure will
range between 800 to 1,600 psi during operation. A team from Sandia National Laboratory and
The Hydrodynamics Group LLC has performed a geotechnical study that concluded that “the
mine will likely hold air at the required storage pressures and will work well as an air storage
vessel for the CAES power plant” [20].
Figure 11
Norton Plant (Artist’s Rendering)
Matagordo Plant
Houston-based Ridge Energy Storage recently began the development process for a 540-MW e
CAES plant in Matagordo, Texas. The plant will use an upgraded version of the Dresser-Rand
design utilized at the McIntosh plant. The design calls for four independent 135-MW e power
train modules; each can reach full power in 14 minutes (or 7 minutes for an emergency start).
The compressed air will be stored in a previously developed brine cavern and delivered to the
expander at a pressure of 700 psi and a flow rate of 400-407 lb/sec. The heat rate of the
Matagordo plant at full load is 3,800 Btu/kWh. At 20% of full load, the plant heat rate is still
very favorable at 4,100 Btu/kWh. The total cost of the plant is estimated to be $243 million or
$450 per kilowatt.
Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) Page 16