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A Company Is Building a Giant Compressed-Air Battery in the Australian Outback


Hydrostor, a leader in compressed air energy storage, aims to break ground on its first large-scale plant in New South Wales by the end of this year. It wants to follow that with an even bigger facility in California.

I spoke with Curtis VanWalleghem, Hydrostor’s CEO and cofounder, to get an update on how close he is to breaking ground on large plants in Australia and California and to learn how he makes the case for his company. The next project would be Willow Rock Energy Storage Center, located near Rosamond in Kern County, California, with a capacity of 500 megawatts and the ability to run at that level for eight hours. At one point, Hydrostor had two proposals in the state, but dropped one because of challenges in the permitting process, including some issues with building in a location overseen by the California Coastal Commission.

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