Storage is not just about batteries. The first compressed air energy storage projects may be about to win planning permission

Storing energy via gas compression is already big business in the UK. Up to now the main focus has been on gas storage, which is ‘charged’ when gas and power (to compress) is cheap and released into the gas network when it is needed. But the model – storing gas at high pressure in an underground salt cavern – can also be used to help manage the electricity supply, by using air as the stored gas and releasing it via a turbine to generate electricity.