QAZAQ GREEN. A massive white storage tank is nearing commissioning in the Gobi Desert near Golmud, Qinghai Province. At −194°C, it stores energy in the form of liquefied air. According to Science and Technology Daily, the facility is the world’s largest demonstration project for liquid air energy storage, with an installed capacity of 60 MW and storage of 600 MWh.

The project is being developed by China Green Development Investment Group and is in the final stage of commissioning. Engineers have dubbed it a “super air power unit.”

Qinghai launched its programme for demonstration energy-storage projects in 2022, prioritising liquid air energy storage—then largely undeveloped in China and without precedent for large-scale deployment in high-altitude environments.

The technology uses air as the energy medium. During off-peak hours, surplus electricity powers compressors that pressurise purified air. After cooling, the air is liquefied and stored in cryogenic tanks at atmospheric pressure. Heat generated during compression is captured and stored separately. When demand peaks, the liquid air is evaporated and reheated using the stored thermal energy, driving a turbine to generate electricity.

China Green Development formed a joint scientific and engineering team with the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to deliver the project. The team overcame a key bottleneck by developing a deep-cryogenic storage system operating at atmospheric pressure and ensuring stable pressure during air storage.

Construction began in 2023. Despite harsh high-altitude conditions, the project integrates seven internationally advanced technologies with fully domestic intellectual property, enabling a scale-up from experimental systems of a few hundred kilowatts to an industrial installation in the tens of megawatts.

A defining feature is full equipment localisation, eliminating reliance on foreign suppliers in this segment.

Liquefied air is about 750 times denser than air at room temperature and can be safely stored at normal pressure. The system is environmentally benign: air is the working medium, with no carbon dioxide or pollutant emissions. Designed for long service life, it can operate reliably in extreme environments, from deserts to high plateaus.

Once completed, the facility will set two world records—for installed capacity and stored energy. A single charge enables up to 10 hours of continuous output, delivering 600 MWh. Annual energy throughput is estimated at 180 million kWh, sufficient to supply around 30,000 households.

The project is paired with a 250 MW solar power plant, allowing the “energy bank” to operate on its own renewable generation.

It has been selected for the National Energy Administration’s pilot programme on new energy storage systems and listed as key technological equipment for the power sector. In 2025, it was named among the top ten scientific and technological achievements of the Zhongguancun Forum.

Developers say the technology can significantly ease curtailment of wind and solar power, improve supply–demand balancing, and provide a new pathway for large energy hubs in desert regions, with potential for global deployment.