Systems Integration of Containerized Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage in Novel Cascade Layout
Novel cascade tank arrangement for thermal energy storage for concentrating solar power
Halotechnics
Recipient
Emeryville, CA
Recipient Location
7th
Senate District
18th
Assembly District
$377,870
Amount Spent
Completed
Project Status
Project Result
The project was approved at the December 10, 2014 Energy Commission Business Meeting and the project work was started in January 2015. The process design and the mechanical design of all major components were completed, along with specified control system requirements which included the use of three tanks, the minimum number prescribed to evaluate the operation and viability of a multiple tank system. Halotechnics terminated the project after 10 months prior to the procurement of any hardware due to insufficient commercial traction from customers in the concentrated solar power industry.
The Issue
California has aggressive renewable energy goals; 33% of energy production must be from renewable sources by 2020. More variable renewable energy from wind and solar means more energy storage is needed to maintain grid reliability. The California Public Utilities Commission recently implemented a requirement for the State's Investor Owned Utilities to procure 1325 MW of grid scale energy storage by 2024. Thermal energy storage (TES) using molten salt has been commercially proven at various CSP plants over the past 15 years. However further cost reductions are required in order to increase the competitiveness of CSP.[?[o:p][/o:p]
Project Innovation
The project aimed to build, validate, thermally cycle, and pilot test a modular 75 kW, 6 hour (500 kWh) molten salt thermal energy storage (TES) system, using standard shipping containers and commercially available tanks and insulation. The project leverages a novel cascaded tank arrangement and high-volume manufacturing and factory assembly, to significantly reduce the installed cost of TES for concentrating solar power (CSP).
Project Benefits
The Halotechnics thermal storage system sought to improve system design and modularity and reduce the cost of molten salt energy storage by 25% by reducing the required storage volume. However, researchers found that the innovative storage technology would have to be very large to cost competitive with battery storage and, therefore, would not effectively reduce the cost of small CSP plants to make them competitive in the market.
Key Project Members
Matthieu Jonemann
Subrecipients
David Lyle
Match Partners
Halotechnics
