Sustainable Energy Initiatives

Lakes Blue Energy’s objective is to identify and implement sustainable energy initiatives - initiatives that are:

• technologically proven

• reliable, contributing to energy needs 24 hours a day 7 days a week, and

• cost competitive.

A technology of potential interest is Compressed Air Energy Storage ('CAES'). CAES is of interest because:

• it uses existing, simple technologies that are already routinely used in the upstream petroleum industry; and

• it is reliable, low cost and has long life (which is in particular contrast with storage of energy in batteries).

CAES involves off-peak storage of compressed air in well-bores - essentially the same well-bores as used for gas or oil production - with energy of the stored air utilised to meet energy needs during periods when inherently unreliable wind or solar generation is not available.

Following development of the Wombat gas project, Lakes Blue Energy aims to investigate the potential for utilisation in Victoria of this type of technology, initially through trial / demonstration facilities but eventually for full-scale operation.