Technology
Our solution efficiently utilizes excess power from solar or wind systems to combat waste. By harnessing surplus energy, we compress air and store it alongside water, CO2, and heat in a specialized tank. The compressed air turns to liquid in an extremely cold tank and is stored until needed. When the power grid needs our energy, the process is reversed, generating electricity through hot air directed through a spinning wheel. Our technology also offers the potential for heating buildings, removing CO2, and supplying clean drinking water.
Benefits Of Our Technology
Ease of installation
Prefabricated, scalable modules field-assembled, not stick-built.
Longer lifespan
20+ year design life; no replacement of critical components needed.
Intrinsically safer
No need for conditioned space and fire
detection/suppression for critical components.
FAQs
Why is lithium-ion batteries used as the baseline and not other energy storage technologies?
- Lithium-ion batteries are the de facto standard for new energy storage projects. No other technology has been able to demonstrate it can compete on cost with lithium-ion batteries.
- However, lithium-ion batteries are not sustainable products nor long duration energy storage solutions.
- Until a competing technology has proven it has lower costs than lithium-ion battery storage systems, lithium-ion battery storage is the benchmark CryoStore Power will target to beat on cost.
- Regardless, we beat all energy storage technologies on cost both because of our efficiency relative to other non-battery energy storage technologies, but also because we rely on commercially available equipment and machinery that is not supply constrained.
Why do you say lithium-ion batteries are not sustainable? Aren’t they good for the environment?
- Lithium-ion batteries are not sustainable because of where and how the key minerals in the batteries are mined and processed, as well as China’s control of the lithium-ion supply chain
- There are four key minerals in lithium-ion batteries that are not sustainable:
- Lithium
- Cobalt. 60-70% of the world’s cobalt is found and mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has a poor record for human freedom, ranking 149th out of 165 countries on the Human Freedom Index published by the Cato Institute. In addition, a report by Amnesty International found that 20% of cobalt produced in the DRC is produced by 110,000 to 150,000 artisanal miners, including children as young as 7 years old, mining by hand.
- Nickel
- Graphite
- The role of China
- China represents ⅔ of all lithium-ion battery production globally
What size are you targeting for your first product?
- Our first product will store 8 MWH of energy, optimized for 1 MW discharge over 8 hours duration and >2.5 MW charging over 6 hours.
When will your product be available to buy?
We are targeting a product launch date of Q4 2024. We are continuing our work by conducting a full-size pilot of the product and hiring an engineering firm to do the detailed engineering and develop the bill of materials. We are also negotiating with suppliers and selecting fabrication locations.
How do I get on the waitlist for your product?
- You can get on the waitlist by submitting a request through the Contact Us form.
What makes your technology unique?
Through our patent, we transform traditional compressed air energy storage into a high efficient thermal energy storage system and can control temperature leakage during charging and discharging. This improves our efficiency by >2x compared with compressed air energy storage, meaning lower costs for our customers.
Why hasn't this been done before?
- Our technology relies on materials called adsorbents (not to be confused with absorbents). Few companies and few people understand adsorbents and know how to apply and use them.
- Dr. Stuckert, a cofounder and original owner of the patent, is one of the world’s foremost experts in adsorbents and it was her insight that adsorbents could be used to store energy at low cost in this way. Others have attempted to store energy using adsorbents in different ways but with limited success.
