Nathalie project helped LHTPV / UTES technology to reach the market’s needs. It’s impact in terms of economic benefits validated its interest and potential for further technology developments. Also, potential customers had the chance to learn about the technology, its potential and possible applications and we validated the interest for further collaborations and implementation for higher TRL. Nathalie could also validate the interest in LHTPV / UTES technology, promoting the interest of the clean energy technologies, reduce carbon footprint and produce and store locally.
Natural gas prices are skyrocketing around the world and have led to record electricity and heating prices. In 2022, the EU energy dependence is a very hot subject, especially related to the need to rapidly reduce the use of fossil fueld for energy production. On the other hand, the rise of variable renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, is creating a new paradigm in the energy sector: more and more renewable electricity is produced when there is no demand. And this electricity is simply wasted. In this situation, it has become more and more relevant to harness wasted renewable electricity to produce clean heat and electricity on demand. However, we still face a technological problem: we lack the technology that can store and producing this energy on demand in an economical way. The lack of technologies for long-duration storage of renewable energy is presently a big impediment for embracing wind or solar technology. The outputs of NATHALIE project show the great potential market for UTES / LHTPV technology in the fields that were analysed, but also in the grid energy market. On overall, the competitiveness of the EU economy and industry is directly related to Europe’s capacity to rapidly swift to green energy production and storage, and the LHTPV / UTES technology analysed in this project is called to play an important role in this change of paradigm.
