To achieve deep decarbonization, renewable energies must become dominant in the energy system. To match demand and supply in these systems, energy storage solutions are a main bottleneck, especially for medium- and long-term storage. Besides other technologies (batteries, pumped storage, H2, etc..) thermal energy storage (TES) should be included in the analysis. It has a potential for low cost at GW scale and can have a significant contribution to decarbonization both in short, medium- and long-term storage and at different temperature levels. Previous projects of the universities participating in this proposal focused on the improvement of materials, their characterization, the development of new materials, the design and the evaluation of different applications for TES systems, barriers to their implementation, and circular economy. A new challenge is presented by the decarbonization strategies at European and national level. There are many pathways to decarbonization, but not all are cost effective and consider critical materials. In actual strategies the potential of TES is not yet properly considered. Therefore, the main objective of DecaTES is to develop and validate a methodology to assess the contribution of thermal energy storage in the decarbonization strategies in industry and built environment. We propose to apply this methodology to different case studies in industry and built environment at component, system, and regional level. The work centers on six main objectives:
- Identification of key indicators to assess decarbonization strategies that integrate TES in energy systems and their relevance in decision-making tools. Development and validation of a specific methodology.
- Development of models that integrate the new methodology to enable multi-objective optimization of case studies.
- Material selection and development for the integration of TES systems.
- Evaluation of case studies for components and systems in buildings and industry applications.
- Application and validation of energy community and decarbonization concept to the case study of the city of Balaguer.
- Training of the participants of the project and students at Ph.D., master, and bachelor level.
Due to this multi-disciplinary approach, a collaboration of different fields is required. Consequently, this is a coordinated project with three sub-projects: (sub-project 1) Universidad de Lleida, (2) Universidad de Barcelona and (3) Universidad Rovira i Virgili. The project is aligned with the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 (PNIEC), the Long-Term Decarbonization Strategy (EDLP) 2050, and the II National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (PNACC) with the aim of making Europe the first climate neutral continent.
Consortium:
Grant PID2021-123511OB-C32 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”.
More information: Prof. Ana Inés Fernández and Camila Barreneche
Research category: Materials for Energy
