THERMOBAT

Thermal battery storing electricity as latent heat at high temperatures, promising on-demand energy supply.

Renewable share in worldwide power generation is rapidly growing. Balancing supply and demand is thus becoming more pressing. Electricity production from renewables often surpasses demand. However, state-of-the-art systems for energy storage are expensive, and thus, can only store small amounts of energy. The EU-funded THERMOBAT project introduces an innovative thermal battery that can store large amounts of electricity in the form of latent heat by melting ferrosilicon alloys at temperatures over 1 200 °C. This heat could be stored for extended periods of time and recovered back to electricity using thermophotovoltaic devices. This innovative approach will deliver both heat and electricity on demand, solving the current threats of uncertain supply and enabling a clean, sustainable future.