The CHEST (Compressed Heat Energy Storage) technology has been initially examined purely from the technical perspective. The system was modelled in different case studies corresponding to different EU locations which varied by volumes of renewable energy and energy needs of the consumers.
The latest achievement developed by PlanEnergi was placing this innovative electricity storage technology in realistic conditions and evaluating its economic performance. This assessment was performed for the most interesting case studies of the project: Ispaster (a micro-grid with district heating and share of local RES in the north of Spain) and Aalborg (a DH network with excess of heat from industry in Denmark). This assessment study aimed to understand how the CHEST system can be implemented at the electricity market and what are its competitive advantages over other alternative power storage options as for example hydrogen storage.
The principle of the business case for the CHEST system is that it converts electricity into high-temperature heat (using a high-temperature heat pump), when the spot electricity prices are ‘low’, and it converts high-temperature heat into electricity (using ORC), when the spot electricity prices are ‘high’. The system operation should be optimised in the way that it maximises the profit with the consideration of electricity prices and fees, taxes, investment cost and maintenance expenditures. The economic analysis investigates scenarios with current electricity market prices as well as the benefits of participating in the alternative regulating markets and the future potential markets.
You can read more about the economic analysis, business cases definition and the baseline for business models by downloading our deliverable here:
