Participation in the IEA ES TCP Task 41 on Economics of Energy Storage

Thermal storage is a valuable asset for different applications, as it can couple different energy sectors and shift the energy demand to the periods when we have low-cost solar and wind power available. Fur-thermore, heat/cold supply security can be increased.

The project is the Danish part of the IEA Energy Storage Task 41 on ‘Economics of Energy Storage’. The Technical University of Denmark, PlanEnergi and Aalborg CSP will jointly contribute to the task with economic evaluations of different thermal energy storage technologies. Key performance indicators will be defined and used in the economic analysis. Comparison of the thermal storage configurations to solu-tions with other flexibility measures or to systems without thermal storage will demonstrate the economic advantages of thermal storage. Success stories and difficult cases of energy storage under different scenarios will be identified. The project will point out the framework for the development of business cas-es for energy storage.
The project also concerns DTU’s leadership of the subtask C: Success stories and difficult cases of en-ergy storage systems. The IEA task consists of 4 subtasks. Jianhua Fan, as a core member of the group initiating the task, will act as the leader of subtask C. The project will promote the integration of Danish research institutes and companies in the world’s development of energy storage.

The main goal of the IEA Energy Storage (ES) Technology Collaboration Programme (TCP) Task 41 is to evaluate the economic efficiency of energy storage systems on a theoretical ba-sis using scientific methods. Within the Task, a coordinated evaluation of energy storage in all applications relevant to the energy system (centralised/decentralised storage; all sectors: elec-tricity, heating/cooling, and mobility) will be carried out. All storage technologies (electrical, thermal, and chemical) are to be taken into account.
The Task aims to contribute to a better understanding of how a certain value is created from a certain benefit of an energy storage technology or system and how this can be translated into a business case in a systematic way.
The Technical University of Denmark, Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering (DTU Construct), PlanEnergi and Aalborg CSP have ongoing research collaborations on development of heat storage technologies. By task participation, DTU Construct will carry out state of the art review of different heat storage technologies, inclusive latent heat storage and large scale heat storage. The focus of the investigations is on economic analysis, especially evaluation meth-ods, KPIs. Suitable KPIs will be identified and used to compare different heat storage technolo-gies. PlanEnergi will provide the task with knowledge on large scale heat storage systems and investigate value of system integration and peak shaving. Aalborg CSP will contribute to the development of KPIs and maximum acceptable cost considering various technologies. By in-ternational collaborations in the task, the project consortium will be updated on the newest de-velopments on electric and chemical energy storage.