The recent UN climate summit in New York revealed huge gaps between lacking climate actions on one hand and demands for change by the youth on the other. This is quite puzzling because technologies to bring us to a completely new level of energy efficiency already exist in today’s world. One example of a leading initiative is the Dutch Sloecentrale power plant.
The context is simple: Increasing power generation from wind and solar is a priority for reducing carbon emissions from the energy sector. This will only be a success though when these renewable energy sources can be effectively integrated in our power grids. This means that thermal power plants providing baseload power need to strengthen their role more towards even more reliable and highly effective peaking power providers. And this is where EnergyNest’s Thermal Battery™ paves the way.
Sloecentrale combined cycle power plant (CCPP) explores the flexibilization of its power generation by using the EnergyNest Thermal Battery™. Objective in technical terms is to realize unprecedented low part-loads without any dumping of steam as well as additional peak-load capacity at zero marginal cost. In practical terms this means that the Thermal Battery will deliver needed flexibility to allow more renewable electricity into the grid while providing reliable super-peaking capacity when electricity demand is high, renewables are not able to deliver due to weather conditions or a combination of the two. In essence the such ultra-flexible CCPPs will guarantee and secure power grid stability. Martin Jongepier, Sloecentrale Plant Manager: “By developing this solution we will turn Sloecentrale into the most flexible, efficient and consequently profitable plant in Europe.”
In the power grid of the future, CCPPs will offer this flexibility and efficiency with the EnergyNest Thermal Battery™, independent of what the fuels of the future will be, Hydrogen or any other renewable fuel, in a fully decarbonized world.
