ECHO project will develop and demonstrate a new flexible system exploiting thermal energy storage (TES).
Energy storage is a key factor to reach EU aim to be climate-neutral. The need to develop a flexible energy system, managing the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources and grid electricity production and demand, finds a solution in the potentialities of TES, able to provide electricity load shifting by energy conversion and storage (Figure 1).
ECHO will focus on five objectives, each of them representing a fundamental step
1.Definition of fundamental parameters for the TES system design;
2.Selection of innovative, user-safe, sustainable, efficient TCMs, PCMs and PCMs ice-based for thermal energy storage, integrating different solutions and optimizing the heat exchange;
3.Building a plug&play, complete, sustainable, flexible, modular, digitally controlled and competitive system;
4.Demonstrating the use of innovative energy storage solutions to have more resilient, adaptive and smart HVAC systems, able to operate peak load reduction;
5.Awareness raising about cost-effectiveness, affordability, energy supply security and network grid stability driven by the use of TES.
The employed methodology is shown in Figure 2.
The advantages of using TES will be studied through a holistic approach, considering various parameters (such as country, policy, energy production, regulatory context, etc.) in the design. Particular attention will be paid to the potential of ECHO within future flexibility markets based on distributed micro-storage grids. Using an agent-based simulation of numerous individual ECHO systems working together (ECHOTSS), we will simulate and assess this potential, taking into account key technical, economic, and regulatory aspects.
