A portfolio company of Launch Alaska installed its first long-duration energy storage pilot project in Anchorage. Cache Energy developed a technology that uses limestone-based pellets as a medium to store heat in a reversible chemical reaction.
The Halliburton office in Anchorage is hosting the pilot project. The Texas-based oil and gas services company invests in alternative energy startups, and part of that assistance includes donating yard space near Midtown.
The system involves a reactor silo filled with calcium hydroxide, also known as caustic lime. During the “charge” process, pellets pass by heat exchange rods, releasing steam and turning into pellets of calcium oxide, also called quicklime. The charged pellets can be stored indefinitely. When fed back through the reactor, quicklime is exposed to humid air, reconstituting the calcium hydroxide while discharging heat.
Cache Energy is now working to install additional units with other Alaska partners.