On December 12, 2022, China Electrotechnical Society officially released announced the 2022 Science and Technology Award, and the “Key Technology and Demonstration Application of Non-supplementary Compressed Air Energy Storage” project completed under the leadership of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Electronics (EEA) of Tsinghua University won the Grand Prize for Technological Invention, which was the first prize granted since the founding of China Electrotechnical Society and also the exclusive prize granted in 2022.

Screenshot of the award announcement

Screenshot of the award announcement

Energy storage is a key technology for building new type power systems, supporting transformation and upgrading of the energy structure and achieving “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality”. Compressed air energy storage, advantageous in large capacity, long service life, reliable technology, cleanness and environmental protection, is a potential orientation of development in the field of energy storage and also one of the new energy storage technologies to be developed during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period. After ten years of research, the project team creatively proposed the non-supplementary combustion compressed air energy storage technology based on compression heat feedback, made a number of innovative achievements and key technological breakthroughs according to the research route of “theoretical research — key technology breakthrough — equipment development — system integration — engineering demonstration application”, and completed the National Energy Administration Energy Storage Demonstration Project “Jiangsu Jintan 60MW/300MWh Salt Cavern Compressed Air Energy Storage Power Station”, which is the world first non-supplementary combustion compressed air energy storage industrial power station and a realization of commercial operation in the field of compressed air energy storage. The project has established a complete technology system with independent intellectual property rights, realized the localization of all core equipment, created a complete industrial chain of compressed air energy storage technology, set a strong foundation for the sustainable development of China’s compressed air energy storage and even the whole energy industry, and further realized China’s dual leadership in technology research and development and engineering practice in the global compressed air energy storage industry.

Relying on the research and development achievement of the project, 7 compressed air energy storage power stations are under construction or planned in Jiangsu, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Hu’nan and some other places, with a total installed capacity of 1320MW, which has effectively promoted the transformation of compressed air energy storage from demonstration projects to large-scale and industrial projects.

The CES Science and Technology Award is the first batch of awards established by social forces approved by the National Science and Technology Award Administration in 2001 to reward units and individuals that have made outstanding contributions to scientific and technological progress in the field of electrical engineering. There are 59 prizes granted this time, including 1 grand prize, 15 first prizes, 25 second prizes and 18 third prizes.