MAN and ABB: Thermal energy storage for combined heating and cooling

April 24, 2020 | Case Study

Typically, thermal energy storage (TES) is considered for heating applications – e.g., increasing overall system efficiencies of hot water, space heating, or industrial process heating by utilizing heat that would otherwise be wasted or by better matching supply and demand. However, building on the idea of sector coupling, TES systems can also be integrated into cooling systems, thereby further increasing efficiency or providing additional flexibility. This added efficiency and flexibility can reduce emissions by using less fuel and/or avoiding purchasing electricity during times of peak demand, when the electric grid is generally supplied by a larger percentage of fossil fuels. To supply cooling, TES systems can be combined with heat pumps or absorption coolers.