Page 26 - Respond 2014 | RTCC Publications

STORING Founded in 2011, NEST AS (New

Energy Storage Technology) has
developed a unique and patented
technology for storing energy in
the form of heat. The company,
based near Oslo, Norway is now
RENEWABLE piloting its technology on a small
ENERGy plans to build up its activities
scale in several locations. NEST

internationally to meet future
energy challenges and scenarios
with a very high share of
renewable energy.

Large-scale energy storage is recognized as a key technology for enabling and supporting the growth of
renewable energy systems. For the frst time a low-cost solution has emerged that facilitates energy storage
of any size to be installed anywhere

The challenge thermal energy source can be stored and later supplied to generate
Most renewable energy sources including solar and wind energy are electricity or process heat (steam).
intermittent in nature. They produce electricity not according to demand
but when sun or wind is available. Being able to store renewable energy, NEST’s novel solution is based on storing thermal energy in a specially
and later supply this energy when it is demanded, is a key factor for our developed type of concrete called Heatcrete . Heat is supplied to,
®
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future sustainable energy supply. Being able to store excess renewable and extracted from, the Heatcrete with a heat transfer fuid (HTF).
energy on a large scale is, in the long run, a prerequisite for phasing out The HTF fows inside heat exchangers that are cast into the concrete.
fossil fuels from the energy supply mix. NEST’s solution is based on connecting together a large array of
thermal storage elements (thermal “batteries”), ensuring optimal thermal
Current technologies for large-scale energy storage face severe performance and scalability both up and down. NEST’s solution can
limitations; Molten salt is limited by relatively high cost, economy thus serve anything from rural electricity supply with hundreds of
of scale (only very large plants are cost-effective), and risk of salt households, to utility scale power plants serving hundreds of thousands
solidifcation. Pumped hydro storage (PHS) and compressed air energy of households.
storage (CAES) have severe geographical limitations, while battery
technologies are far too expensive for large scale energy storage and Concentrated solar power
hydrogen is still facing severe technical challenges in addition to high TES is already an established technology in concentrating solar power
cost and low effciency. (CSP) plants, enabling them to become dispatchable energy suppliers.
CSP plants capture energy from the sun as heat; this heat is used to
NEST’s solution generate electricity by way of conventional steam turbines. CSP plants
NEST AS is developing a new technology for large-scale thermal energy may also provide energy for other crucial utility purposes such as
storage (TES). Fig. 1 shows the overall concept of TES. Heat from a desalination of seawater, waste water treatment or absorption cooling to

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