Enel and EnergyNest announce development of thermal energy storage technology

• 6 years ago (2018-10-24)
• David Flin

Coal 298 Europe 1089 Gas 394 Storage 45

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EnergyNest of Norway is one of the partners selected by Enel to analyse the benefits and impacts of the integration of its technology into one of Enel’s power generation assets. EnergyNest said that the thermal energy storage technology could provide reduce an annual CO2 emission reduction of up to 45,000 tons, save 14 million litres of fuel oil per year, and with a project payback period of less than three years.

The objective of the project is to demonstrate how waste heat recovery in thermal energy storage can increase flexibility and sustainability of thermal power plants.

EnergyNest’s thermal battery modules consist of locally-sourced, recyclable materials – framed steel pipes set with Heatcrete, a high-performance thermal energy-storing concrete developed in partnership with Heidelberg Cement of Germany.

Research has shown that thermal energy storage can provide significantly greater benefits to utilities and grid operators than had previously been thought.

Ingersoll Rand carried out research at the Western Cooling Efficiency Centre at the University of California, Davis, and this demonstrated that the current method for estimating the impact thermal energy storage has on the electrical grid does not fully consider the impact of energy savings that occur during the hottest days of the year. By basing estimates on a 10-day average baseline, the data drastically underestimates the impact of disconnecting the cooling system from the electric grid when temperatures outside are very high and the grid reaches peak load conditions.