Liquid air storage: What to track
Carrington's real performance and Britain's revenue decision
Carrington's real performance and Britain's revenue decision What this tab covers The attributes worth tracking regularly, with the latest value, the direction of travel and why each matters.The decisive signals are Carrington's measured efficiency and availability, Ofgem's final cap-and-floor decision after its June 2026 shortlist excluded liquid air, and whether China's Golmud plant runs at its rated duty.
| Category | Attribute | Latest | Trend | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Techno-economic | LCOS trajectory | About USD 60/MWh modelled (MIT/NTNU 2025); no operating data5 | → stable | First commercial plants will replace modelled costs with real ones. |
| Technical | Measured round-trip efficiency (in place of state of health) | 50-60% standalone (review); no commercial measurement yet4 | → stable | Efficiency drives energy cost per MWh delivered. |
| Supply chain | Critical mineral cost and geopolitical concentration | No critical minerals; industrial gas equipment1 | → stable | Low mineral risk; supplier base for large cryogenic turbomachinery is narrow. |
| Market | Capacity and stability service revenue | Ofgem June 2026 minded-to list (16 projects, 7,645 MW) excludes both Highview projects; final decision pending615 | ↘ worsening | Bankability of large UK plants rests on this scheme; exclusion pushes Highview towards stability contracts and other markets. |
| ESG compliance | Safety and environmental compliance | Industrial gas and pressure rules; no fire risk1 | → stable | Cryogenic hazards are well understood. |
| Climate | Lifecycle carbon payback period | No verified figure found4 | → stable | Steel-heavy build and 50% efficiency both matter; ask for lifecycle assessments. |
| Deployment | Commercial plants in operation | Carrington storage expected 2027 (company); Golmud in commissioning (Dec 2025 report)78 | ↗ improving | Two first-of-a-kind plants will set investor confidence. |
| Market | Share of LDES market | 2025 LDES installs led by CAES (45%), thermal (33%), flow (21%); liquid air not listed9 | → stable | Shows how far liquid air trails rival long-duration options. |
Sources
- Energy stored as liquefied air: GBP 300m investment triggers construction of UK's first commercial-scale plant The Chemical Engineer (IChemE), 2024
- Liquid air energy storage: a critical review (She et al., Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 208, 114986); abstract checked via University of Birmingham repository Elsevier (Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews), 2025
- Liquid air could be cheapest method for long-term energy storage, researchers predict The Chemical Engineer (IChemE), 2025
- Highview Power's two UK LAES projects advance in Ofgem's cap-and-floor scheme POWER Magazine, 2025
- Highview surpasses half a billion pounds of funding with latest GBP 130M capital raise for phase one at Hunterston Highview Power via Business Wire, 2025
- China powers up world's largest liquid air storage project ESS News, 2025
- Long-duration energy storage deployments rose 49% in 2025: Wood Mackenzie Utility Dive, 2026
- Long Duration Electricity Storage cap and floor Window 1: minded-to decisions (consultation) Ofgem, 2026