Energy storage application in Aarhus Industrial Park Denmark

Danish Center for Energy Storage, DaCES, is a partnership that covers the entire value chain from research and innovation to industry and export in the field of energy storage and conversion. The ambition of DaCES is to strengthen cooperation, sharing of knowledge and establishment of new partnerships between companies and universities.

Bulk physical storage of renewable energy produced gases can act as a longer-term storage solution (hours, days, weeks, months) to help maintain flexibility in a fossil-free energy grid (The Danish Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells). Without the hydrogen scenario, the potential for hydrogen-based energy storage in Denmark will be limited.

If Denmark shall succeed in the development and implementation of new energy technologies such as energy storage and conversion, a broad knowledge of political and legal frameworks, economic models, the role of civil society as well as new forms of organization and collaboration across sectors and disciplines is necessary.

There are currently three EES facilities operating in Denmark, all of which are electro-chemical (batteries). A fourth EES facility – the HyBalance project – is currently under construction and will convert electricity produced by wind turbines to hydrogen through PEM electrolysis (proton exchange membrane).

Agora Energiewende and DTU Management Engineering, have postulated that this scenario report does in fact show that transitioning the Danish energy sector to 100 percent renewables by 2050 is technically feasible under multiple pathways.

Thermal energy storage comes from storing energy from renewable energies in the form of heat, which in then can be used in district heating systems or be re-converted to electricity through a turbine. The heat can be stored in rocks, water, molten salts, or other phase-changing materials.