Canadian energy storage company opens U.S. headquarters in Denver

(Rendering provided by Hydrostor) Canadian company Hydrostor has chosen Denver for its US headquarters. The company is building an energy storage plant in California and plans others in the US and Australia as ways to store excess energy from renewable energy sources so it can be used when needed.

Canadian company Hydrostor, which specializes in storing energy from renewable sources for later use, opens its American headquarters in downtown Denver.

The Toronto-based company announced the decision on Wednesday. Tom Duckett, Hydrostor’s chief development officer, said the company plans to hire 20 more people this year, bringing the number of employees in Denver to about 30.

The company employs approximately 100 people around the world.

Hydrostor chose Denver as its U.S. base, in part because of its industrial operations. Duckett said the company’s technology uses many mining and conventional construction techniques that use fossil fuels, while also using renewable energy.

Mining and oil and gas have long been the backbone of the state’s economy. Colorado also has a growing renewable energy industry.

Duckett said the company’s strategy is to look at markets where the renewable energy sector is growing.

Duckett said Denver’s other advantages are its central location and talent pool. Colorado is close to California, where Hydrostor is preparing to build a 500-MW plant in Kern County, as well as potential markets in Arizona and Nevada.

Hydrostor operates a plant in Ontario and expects to begin construction of a plant in New South Wales, Australia, next year. The company announced that it has another 15 projects in preparation. Duckett said there are plans to build a plant in Colorado.

The ability to store excess energy produced from wind and solar farms for use when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining is believed to be essential to increasing the use of renewable energy sources and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. The basic technology for storing compressed air underground for later energy use has been around for about 40 years.

However, unlike some models, Hydrostor’s proprietary technology does not use fossil fuels in the process, Duckett said. The company says its method, which involves pumping water to store compressed air underground and releasing it under pressure, produces no emissions.

Unlike batteries that store energy from renewable sources, the Hydrostor plant has a lifespan of 50 years and can provide up to eight hours of electricity, Duckett said. This process is called “long-term” energy storage.

A 2023 paper written by staff at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden found that closed-cycle pumped hydro has the lowest potential to contribute to the problem of climate change, considering the full impact of materials and structures.

Hydrostor uses electricity from renewable sources to power the plant’s compressors, producing heated compressed air that is stored above ground. A video on the company’s website shows how cooled compressed air is then injected underground into a water-filled rock cave. The air displaces the water, which rises to the surface tank.

When energy is needed, the process is reversed. Thanks to gravity, water at the surface flows into the cave, pushing air above the ground. The air is heated again and sets turbines in motion, which produce electricity.

Duckett said the company leverages existing technology, equipment and supply chains. “We just put it together in a different way to make it a clean and long-lasting energy solution.”