The objective of the innovation project is to demonstrate our low-cost and efficient thermal energy storage (TES) technology, and introduce the technology to the market. Similar to how electric energy is stored in a battery, in an EnergyNest storage thermal energy is stored in a state-of-the-art concrete-like storage medium which is named HEATCRETE®. Thermal energy can be stored up to temperatures of 425 °C, or more. The overall project goal has been to evaluate and determine the potential for storing energy from waste heat/power from industrial applications, or surplus or curtailed wind energy, and to return the energy as either heat (process steam), electricity or a combination of both (combined heat and power – CHP). Within the project period feasibility studies with several commercial partners have been carried out to evaluate the possibility to build a first industrial waste-heat recovery-and-storage - WHRS demonstrator.
Traditional “heat-intensive” industries such as iron and steel mills, and in some cases chemical, non-ferrous minerals and glass processing plants, have suitable waste heat conditions for EnergyNest thermal energy storage. The steel industry offers several opportunities for WHR combined with a TES. The presence of high temperature waste heat streams, cyclic processing or operations, combined with strong incentives to recover these streams, means that many potential applications for thermal energy storage can be developed. Several viable applications can be found in this industry, as thermal loads can be time-shifted internally from high temperature waste heat streams to lower-temperature processes (non-continuous batch processing), thereby displacing significant quantities of fossil-based fuel consumption used.
To fully utilize such effects, Tata Steel is now commencing the implementation of an EnergyNest Thermal Energy Storage (TES) demo project as a ‘lighthouse initiative’. The IJmuiden demo will utilize exhaust gas energy from steel production to cover own energy demands in the facility – resulting in reduced natural gas consumption and CO2 emissions.
