Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has recently begun operation of its electric thermal energy storage system (ETES). The innovative storage technology makes it possible to store large quantities of energy cost-effectively and thus decouple electricity generation and use.
The heat storage facility, in Hamburg-Altenwerder, contains around 1,000 tonnes of volcanic rock as an energy storage medium. When demand peaks, ETES uses a steam turbine for the re-electrification of the stored energy. The ETES pilot plant can thus store up to 130 MWh of thermal energy for a week. In addition, the storage capacity of the system remains constant throughout the charging cycles.
The aim of the pilot plant is to deliver system evidence of the storage on the grid and to test the heat storage extensively. In the next step, Siemens Gamesa plans to use its storage technology in commercial projects and scale up the storage capacity and power. The goal is to store energy in the range of several gigawatt hours (GWh) in the near future.
