Achieving a net-zero-carbon energy system in the UK by 2050 with liquid air energy storage

Different storage technologies can offer promising solutions for integrating large amounts of intermittent and variable renewables, in which the liquid air energy storage (LAES) has key advantages, including its high scalability, no geographical constraints, and multi-vector services. This work aims to assess the cost-effective net- zero energy transition pathways for the UK by 2050. A new multi-zone mixed-integer-linear-programming-based energy expansion framework, which can highlight the crucial roles of LAES and other energy storage, was developed to perform the optimal design and operation of energy systems. The scenario and sensitivity analyses revealed the techno-economic performances of different pathways and four key results. First, it showed that a net-zero-carbon power-heat-coupled energy system is feasible in the UK by 2050, with a levelized cost of electricity at 65 similar to 80 pound/MWh, and a levelized cost of heat energy at 45 similar to 63 pound/MWh. The major generators' expansions are onshore wind power (94.5 GW) and LAES (384 GWh) in the power sector, and the air-source heat pump (similar to 80 similar to 90 GW) and short-term heat storage (330 GWh) in the heat sector. Importantly, it demonstrated the crucial roles of LAES and other energy storage in the UK energy transition from a techno-economic view. Specifically, only similar to 10-12 % of storage investment can reduce the annual renewable curtailments by more than 80 % and the system annual costs by similar to 15.1 %- 28 % depending on different scenarios. The optimal capacity ratios of LAES and renewables are similar to 16 %- 25 % in different zones. The last notable observation suggested that the LAESs with charge durations at 8 similar to 10 hand discharge durations at 12 similar to 15 hare more suitable for the wind- dominated case (like the UK) than short-duration batteries (similar to 4/5h). Overall, the developed energy expansion framework can facilitate the planning of conventional energy and storage technologies to absorb renewable energies, and the meaningful results can provide policymakers with enlightening views about developing policies relating to achieving carbon mitigation ambitions.