Thermal Energy Storage Plants: A Key to Unlocking Flexibility and Sustainability in the Energy Transition?

Kurzfassung

Power generation from variable renewable energies will dominate future energy supply in Germany, increasing the demand for flexibility options. Carnot batteries, scalable and technically suitable, are investigated for their economic potential using the REMix energy systems optimization modelling framework and the AMIRIS electricity market model. Applied to a zero-emission energy system in Central Europe for 2050, first results from this overall system perspective reveal that low-cost storage mediums drive Carnot battery usage. They are more preferable in for mid-term storage than batteries in terms of achievable annual gross profits on the electricity market. To enhance competitiveness, we extended our approach to model thermal energy storage plants allowing process heat output and considering investment options into on-site PV plants and back-up power generation via gas turbines and biomass. In this talk, we will present further analysis with our integrated Central European energy system model and compare electricity prices and CO2 emissions observable when transforming coal-fired plants into thermal energy storage plant to better understand how this technology may support the energy transition in terms of flexibility, efficiency, and sustainability