Compressed air energy storage in porous geological formations : Investigation of storage characteristics and induced impacts

With the rapid growth of energy production from intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar power plants, large-scale energy storage options are required to compensate for fluctuating power generation on different time scales. Compressed air energy storage (CAES) in porous geological formations is seen as a promising underground storage option for balancing short-term diurnal fluctuations. CAES is a power-to-power energy storage, which converts electricity to mechanical energy, i.e. highly pressurized air, and stores it in the subsurface. This thesis aims at investigating the feasibility, dimensioning the storage capacity, and assessing the induced hydraulic, thermal and geochemical impacts of a large-scale CAES operation in porous formations. For this, scenario based numerical simulations are used.