What is electrical energy storage (EES)?

Electrical Energy Storage, EES, is one of the key technologies in the areas covered by the IEC. EES techniques have shown unique capabilities in coping with some critical characteristics of electricity, for example hourly variations in demand and price.

How is thermal energy stored?

Thermal energy is stored solely through a change of temperature of the storage medium. The capacity of a storage system is defi ned by the specifi c heat capacity and the mass of the medium used. Latent heat storage is accomplished by using phase change materials (PCMs) as storage media.

Why is electricity storage important?

In the electricity market, global and continuing goals are CO 2 reduction and more effi cient and reliable electricity supply and use. The IEC is convinced that electrical energy storage will be indispensable to reaching these public policy goals.

How long can energy be stored in a refrigeration system?

In principle the energy can be stored indefi nitely as long as the cooling system is operational, but longer storage times are limited by the energy demand of the refrigeration system. Large SMES systems with more than 10 MW power are mainly used in particle detectors for high-energy physics experiments and nuclear fusion.

How much energy is available for energy storage in Germany?

Including hybrid and pure EVs the average capacity is about 20 kWh per vehicle. In a scenario in which about 30 % of these capacities are used, we would have about 6 GWh available for energy storage. Compared to pumped hydro storage in Germany with capacities of about 40 GWh in 2011 this would represent about 15 % extra.

Why are thermal storage systems important?

Thermal storage systems are deployed to overcome the mismatch between demand and supply of thermal energy and thus they are important for the integration of renewable energy sources.