RPow preps Spanish thermal energy storage pilot plant

The facility, at the Iberian Centre for Research in Energy Storage (CIIAE), will test storage based on molten salts (MS), phase change materials (PCM), adsorption, and heat transfer fluids (HTF).
Image: Pixabay

Spanish engineer RPow has designed a pilot thermal energy storage (TES) plant at CIIAE, in Cáceres.

The site, to be built by 2025, will facilitate research into advanced TES technology with the design suitable for charge and discharge operations based on MS, PCM, and adsorption. The plant will also enable testing with HTF, initially Helisol 5A; and thermoregulatory fluids including nano- or micro-capsules.

The pilot plant consists of a common HTF recirculation system, at the core of the design, interconnected with the three TES modules, for MS, adsorption, and PCM.

For the initial phase of the project, binary salts of 60% sodium nitrate and 40% potassium nitrate will be a storage medium, together with PCM, to operate at 60 C to 410 C. Gel will be used in the adsorption system. The materials will be evaluated during testing with heat exchangers and high-temperature reactors.

“Seventy-five percent of industry’s energy needs are in the form of heat,” Rafael Pérez Santana, project lead at RPow tells pv magazine. “Without innovative and efficient thermal storage solutions, which is a technology advanced enough to be implemented on a large scale, decarbonization will be unfeasible.”

The plant design is intended to be the final step in a scaling up of TES research carried out at CIIAE and other centers and will offer pre-commercial testing for researchers.

The pilot plant, funded by the European Union’s Next Generation fund and Spain’s Ministry of Science and Innovation, is being developed by RPow and joint venture partner Contratos Y Diseños Industriales, which develops energy storage systems.

From pv magazine España.

Written by

  • Pilar worked as managing editor for an international solar magazine, in addition to editing books, primarily in the fields of literature and art. She joined pv magazine in May 2017, where she manages the Spanish newsletter and website and helps write and edit articles for the daily news section in Latin America.

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