Heat-storage for wind or solar energy

[Viacheslav]

Start of construction in Hamburg-Altenwerder: Siemens Gamesa to install FES heat-storage for wind energy

Over a period of 3-years, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has been doing R&D-activities on converting energy to heat in rock fill at a testing-unit in Hamburg. Now the company converts its findings into a real scale project. Starting in December, Siemens Gamesa will install the first full scale "Future Energy System - FES" on the Trimet SE aluminum smelter site in Hamburg-Altenwerder. It will feature approximately 1,000 tons of rock fill which will be able to provide 30 MWh of electric energy at temperatures of 600 degree Celsius. Via a steam turbine, the heat can be re-converted into electricity. A generator rated at 1.5 megawatts will produce energy for up to 24 hours. Within this period, the system can supply energy equivalent to the consumption of 1,500 average German households or could charge the batteries of approximately 50 electric cars. Partner is the local utility Hamburg Energie GmbH. The company will test the commercial opportunities of the storage-technology in the energy markets. With the start of construction Siemens Gamesa reaches a milestone in the development of a key technology in the context of the energy transition.

In times of sunny weather and high wind conditions, renewable energies are available in large amounts - often the feed-in exceeds the grid capacities. Storage systems can help to act as a buffer between times of overload and weak production periods, which happen at slack periods and darkness. But most storage technology offer limited capacities or are not cost-competitive. The Siemens Gamesa solution under development in a project supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, offers a highly economic approach in storing energy. After having been converted to heat in rock fill, excess wind energy is stored and protected with an insulated cover. When there is a need for additional electricity, a steam turbine converts the heat energy back to electricity. The simple principle of this storage combines proven components to an innovative setup: For the conversion process of electricity into a hot air stream, it uses fans and heating elements out of mass production. The same applies to the re-conversion: Via a highly dynamic Siemens steam boiler, a standard steam turbine is operated to generate electricity at the end of the process chain.

The focus of Siemens Gamesa's R&D activities was on the insulated container to house the rock fill which is the virtual battery and the core innovation. In the research project, the team has explored the thermodynamic principles to receive a high efficiency in all processes related to the transmission to heat. A scientist of Technical University Hamburg-Harburg (TUHH) supports the project by modelling the processes inside the storage unit, which results in principles for thermodynamic calculations of the processes. All learnings will now be incorporated in the real scale FES. One of the key findings was an optimized shape of the container with the rock fill. The design of the storage container of the new project reflects this: Its round bodied shape will have a decreasing diameter at both ends, where the inflow and the outflow openings are positioned. The ferroconcrete giant will have a content of 800 cubic meters of rock-fill with a mass of 1,000 tons and will be covered with a meter thick layer of thermal insulation.

Siemens Gamesa is expecting a construction time of approximately one year for the new FES system. The works in Hamburg-Altenwerder will start in December with commissioning planned spring 2019. After comprehensive testing, the new storage system will then be operated in collaboration with Hamburg Energie GmbH.

Of course, everything will depend on the cost, reliability and durability, but in general this technology looks attractive

 

[Pogo]

Thank you. This is WAY more what this site should be about than endless trolling about "your party is racist -- oh yeah your party is nazis nyah nyah nyah". This is refreshing.

 

[elektra]

This should really raise the cost of something already extremely expensive.

 

[elektra]

I see why there is no link. This article is 2 years old. Where is the product? It should be done by now. How about an update on this tired old information.

Siemens unveils new hot rocks energy storage system

Siemens unveils new hot rocks energy storage system

• Jocelyn Timperley
• 29 September 2016

 

[CarlinAnnArbor]

Rock storage is old news. Water retains 4 times the BTUs of rock.

But there is a better way as far as storing summer heat to heat your home in winter. It's called zeolite
Zeolite thermal storage retains heat indefinitely, absorbs four times more heat than water - ExtremeTech

BTW, pogo, liberals are Nazis (National SOCIALISTS)

 

[Viacheslav]

I see why there is no link. This article is 2 years old. Where is the product? It should be done by now. How about an update on this tired old information.

Yes, I forgot to insert a link

[/QUOTE]
30 November 2017

• Innovative storage technology will supply energy out of hot stones by spring 2019
• Milestone in the development of a key technology in the context of the energy transition

[/QUOTE]

Start of construction in Hamburg-Altenwerder: Siemens Gamesa to install FES heat-storage for wind energy

and, of course, this technology (I think) is not for global projects, but for example in places where there are no power stations (island, mountains) and require power no more than 50MB this solution may be used

 

[elektra]

I see why there is no link. This article is 2 years old. Where is the product? It should be done by now. How about an update on this tired old information.

Yes, I forgot to insert a link

30 November 2017

• Innovative storage technology will supply energy out of hot stones by spring 2019
• Milestone in the development of a key technology in the context of the energy transition

[/QUOTE]

Start of construction in Hamburg-Altenwerder: Siemens Gamesa to install FES heat-storage for wind energy

and, of course, this technology (I think) is not for global projects, but for example in places where there are no power stations (island, mountains) and require power no more than 50MB this solution may be used[/QUOTE]
Again, very old news being recycled, where does this project stand today?

And with a 1.5 mw output, it is useless.

 

[Viacheslav]

Again, very old news being recycled, where does this project stand today?

Siemens Gamesa has been doing R&D three years, and Siemens is planning to build the heat-storage in next year.

And with a 1.5 mw output, it is useless.

Yes, it can be said, absolutely nothing, but this is a new technology, in which there are still many technical and commercial problems that can be solved only after real experience and for this 1.5 MWh is enough.

 

[Pogo]

Rock storage is old news. Water retains 4 times the BTUs of rock.

But there is a better way as far as storing summer heat to heat your home in winter. It's called zeolite
Zeolite thermal storage retains heat indefinitely, absorbs four times more heat than water - ExtremeTech

BTW, pogo, liberals are Nazis (National SOCIALISTS)

Damn, there was a sudden tangent.

If we stipulate that "Nazis" are by practice Authoritarian, then "Liberal" and "Nazi" are polar opposites of each other. Authoritarianism sticks its nose into the people's lives while Liberalism gets the hell out of the way. And neither has jack squat to do with "socialism", which is an economic model, not a political one.

/offtopic