THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE UNIT

TESCONSOL

Thermal Storage for Concentrating Solar Power Plants

KiC-InnoEnergy, European Institute of Technology (EIT)

6.7M€

2011

Project Summary

Development of cost effective thermal storage systems for CSP, with an investment cost of less than 25 €/kWh capacity. Current thermal storage systems represent about 10% of the investment cost of a CSP plant, but depending on the plant this cost can be even higher. The aim of this project was basically to reduce the high costs in existing systems and to look for viable possibilities for as yet undeveloped thermal energy storage systems. Development of experimental and numerical tools/platforms for future designs and industrial technological support will be carried out.

Thermal Storage Group’s Role

CIEMAT gained valuable experience while screening potential improvements for reducing TES cost.

Technical Approach and Resources Used

The research team is engaged in

• Designing and launching the project.
• New latent storage module proposal for low-k PCM

New products and services (at the end of the project, 2014): platforms for prediction and design of performance operation for molten salt systems; characterization of candidate materials for molten salt TES and latent storage systems; platforms for prediction and design of performance operation for latent storage systems; strategies for TES integration in CSP plants; E-learning module for life-long learning, as well as InnoEnergy MSc and PhD programs.

• Dr. Mª Esther Rojas
• Dr. Rocío Bayón
• Esther Rivas