Power to steam

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Power to steam captures off-peak electricity and turns into on-demand steam

All over Europe, large-scale photovoltaic (PV) projects and wind farms are being developed, with expansion targets more than doubling countries’ peak demands. At the same time, industrial manufacturers are desperately seeking ways to decarbonize their process steam, yet heat pumps don’t work for temperatures >200°, geothermal energy is rarely available, and the availability of sustainable biomass/biogas is very limited.

Turning power to steam on manufacturing or utility level with thermal energy storage is the missing link by storing low-cost or otherwise curtailed electricity and making it available on demand for steam production. This reduces plant operating costs, creates new revenue streams and enables 24/7 renewable energy supply, all as part of an integrated energy solution.

How power to steam works

Option 1: Connecting the thermal battery to your thermal-oil loop (1) Low-cost otherwise curtailed volatile renewable electricity (directly from PV or wind, or from grid eg. via a PPA) is converted to heat by heating up thermal oil in resistive heater to charge the ThermalBattery™

(2) Heat is stored at minimal losses in the ThermalBattery™

(3) The ThermalBattery™ is discharged to the steam generator to supply steam on demand Option 2: Charging the thermal battery directly with steam from the e-boiler (1) Low-cost otherwise curtailed volatile renewable electricity (directly from PV or wind, or from grid eg. via a PPA) is converted to steam in the e-boiler to charge the ThermalBattery™ (2) Steam is stored at minimal losses in the ThermalBattery™ (3) The ThermalBattery™ is discharged to directly supply steam on demand

How this benefits your business

Decarbonize heat immediately

Provision of clean process heat supply for steam production for more than 6000 hours a year dramatically reduces CO₂ emissions, as well as other emissions to air (i.e. NOX, CO and dust).

Save money easily

Depending on on-site PV generation or grid connection and related fees – as well as earnings from ancillary services – non-discounted payback of <10a can usually be achieved.

Optimize automation

Our system is designed for simple integration and fully automated operation, together with an external demand-side management partner of the client’s choice to get the most out of their asset.

Charge system rapidly

Fast charging in 2-3 hours that captures only a few low-price hours in a daily cycling mode enables far better performance than competing technologies on the market.

How this solution is built

Off the shelf electric (oil) heaters are available from different suppliers up to 15 MW. To achieve sufficient redundancies, up to three heaters are used. Customized solutions may go up to 200 MW.

ThermalBattery™ from ThermalBattery-package including modules, insulation, superstructure and thermal foundation.

Thermal-Oil-BOP-package (or Steam-BOP-package) including piping, pumps, expansion-vessel, valves and instrumentation. Depending on customer requirement also independent distributed control system (DCS).

Off the shelf Thermal-Oil steam generator for generating reliable industrial steam, usually in the range of 150°C to 300°C. (Not needed when charging and discharging the thermal battery directly with steam)

You want to know more?

Are you interested in ENERGYNEST, or have any questions regarding our thermal energy storage solutions or our applications for your specific industry?

Don’t hesitate to drop us a line.

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Dynamic delivery models

Together with our strong network of partners we deliver our solutions as turn-key systems, as build-own-operate, or simply adjust the ThermalBattery™ as hardware ‒ entirely according to your needs.