ENE Europort Copyright HeidelbergCement Steffen Fuchs.
Norway-based cleantech company EnergyNest is currently one of the partners selected by multinational energy provider Enel for the analysis of the benefits and impacts of the integration of its technology in one of Enel’s numerous power generation assets. According to EnergyNest, the company’s latest thermal energy storage technology, when integrated in full-scale, could provide: annual CO2 reduction of up to 45,000 tons, 14 million liters of fuel oil saved per year and project payback in less than three years.
The collaboration launched with EnergyNest gives Enel the chance to evaluate EnergyNest’s thermal energy battery solution in real-life conditions and identify full-scale business applications for the technology integrated into thermal power plants. 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. According to EnergyNest, this activity will allow Enel to assess technology robustness, its potential contribution to increasing efficiency and its positive environmental impact.
Last week, EnergyNest officially unveiled its first thermal battery module produced in its new manufacturing hub in Europoort, Rotterdam, on the site of partner Mebin. Manufacturing for two commercial projects is now expected to start at the end of the year. EnergyNest’s innovative 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 HeidelbergCement, Germany’s multinational buildings material company.
The production is a pan-European success story in the making, with Norwegian knowledge and the steel modules, which are pre-fabricated in the Czech Republic, coming together in the Netherlands at the Mebin plant. Here, the shipping container-sized cassettes will be cast with Heatcrete and quality controlled, before being transported to project sites for final assembly.
This announcement comes on the heels of research that shows thermal energy storage can provide significantly greater benefits to utilities and electricity grid operators than previously thought.
Ingersoll Rand engaged with Western Cooling Efficiency Center at University of California, Davis for the research, which demonstrated that the current method for estimating the electrical grid impact of Thermal Energy Storage systems does not fully consider the impact of energy savings that occurs during the hottest days of the year, which means that estimates are far lower than previously thought. By basing estimates on a “10-day average baseline,” the data drastically under-estimates the impact of disconnecting the cooling system from the electric grid when temperatures outside are very hot and the grid reaches its peak load conditions.
