High-temperature heat storage
5-7
Technology Description
Latent heat storage (LHS) takes advantage of the energy absorbed or released at constant temperature during a phase change of the material. In most cases, solid/liquid phase change is utilised, with melting used to store heat and solidification used to release heat. Applications in the power sector are solar thermal power plants, allowing the plant to provide electricity after sunset. Salt hydrate and paraffin wax systems are partly commercialised for temperatures below 100 °C (TRL 6-8). High-temperature LHS with integrated finned-tube heat exchangers has been constructed and operated with variable phase-change temperatures between 140 °C and 305 °C (TRL 7).
Relevance for Net Zero
A higher integration of variable renewable energy will call for a flexible integration of power and heating systems, and thermal energy storage offer means to also decarobinize the heating demand, including higher-temperature heating demands.
Key Countries
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