Report

Opportunities for thermal storage systems

Is there a market for collective thermal storage systems in the Netherlands?

This is becoming an increasingly important question in the context of a heat supply that will increasingly depend on clean and sustainable sources of heat. Storage systems can make a significant contribution to making heat networks more efficient (both in terms of energy and finance) and more sustainable. Either by providing peak heat (instead of the fossil fuel-fired peak boiler) or by supplying a larger number of homes with the same sustainable heat source.

This study investigated the market potential (until the year 2050) of (large-scale) collective seasonal storage systems in heat networks for the built environment. We looked at systems that are currently (almost) market-ready and are compatible with the current generation of heat networks:

  • ATES: aquifer thermal energy storage;
  • BTES: borehole thermal energy storage;
  • PTES: pit thermal energy storage;
  • TTES: tank thermal energy storage.