Siemens Turns to Hot Stones for the Energy Transition

Industry News – June 17, 2021

In Hamburg, a new stone age began just two years ago – the stone age of the new energy world. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) collaborated with Hamburg University of Technology and the utility Hamburg Energie on the FES Future Energy Solution project to ultimately inaugurate a large electric thermal energy storage system (ETES) in 2019. The system relies on 1,000 metric tons of Norwegian lava rock as a solid heat accumulating material with a thermal storage capacity of 130 MWh. The stones can store excess electrical energy from renewable sources of energy in the form of heat over several weeks nearly loss-free. This involves heating up air and blowing it into the storage system as a warm airflow until the stones reach a temperature of 750° Celsius.

Standard power plant technology is deployed to generate power from the heat. Steam from a steam generator powers a turbine to generate power. The durable system is designed with sustainability in mind given that volcanic rock is cheap and readily available around the world. Low-tech storage systems of this caliber can separate the generation and consumption of renewable energy integrate them into an existing infrastructure. Coal-fired power plants that are no longer in use could, for example, be converted into storage power plants. The fact that ETES enable the electrification and decarbonization of industrial processes makes them a useful solution for the energy transition. Siemens is planning even larger plants with a storage capacity of 2 GWh.

The projekt of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has been nominated for The smarter E AWARD 2021. The winners of The smarter E AWARD will be crowned on a virtual stage as part of The smarter E Industry Days being held between July 21 and 23, 2021. The AWARD ceremony will begin on July 21 at 3:00pm

Further information about all nominated projects and products can be found here .

Further Content
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Industry Voices
Robert Busch, Managing Director Bundesverband Neue Energiewirtschaft

"To drive forward the energy transition, electricity, heat and transport sectors must be coupled. This is the only way to efficiently integrate renewables into the energy system via load shifting, storage and power-to-X technologies. EM-Power Europe will show how sector coupling can be implemented in neighborhoods."

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Hans Korteweg, Geschäftsführer bei COGEN Europe

Cogeneration is evolving into the backbone of a decentralized, integrated energy system where energy will be generated and consumed at a local or distributed level. We support EM-Power Europe as a partner because all stakeholders of a decentralized energy system come together here.

Industry Voices
Jochen Schwill, CEO Next Kraftwerke

"Our virtual power plant connects solar and wind farms, electricity storage systems, Power-to-X installations and more. This allows us to help balance out fluctuations in energy supply and demand. With its focus on smart renewable energy, EM-Power is the perfect platform for us to showcase what we have to offer.”

Industry Voices
Frauke Thies, Executive Director, smartEn (Smart Energy Europe)

"Prosumers are playing an increasingly important role in the energy transition. By generating, consuming or storing electricity in a self-distributed manner, they ensure a balance between the supply and demand of renewable energies in a smart grid. At EM-Power Europe, the topic will get the attention it deserves."

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