The EU aims for climate neutrality by 2050: an economy with net zero greenhouse gas emissions. A combination of different measures is planned to achieve the targets. On the one hand, the efficiency of energy use should be increased, hence reducing total energy consumption. On the other hand, energy supply for transport, buildings and the industrial sector should be generated based on renewable sources. Therefore the installed renewable capacity should increase in the coming years, as renewable electricity is planned to be expanded to 592 GW solar PV and 510 GW wind by 20301. More than half of current energy is used in the form of heat. In the industrial sector, heat represents about 75% of the industry energy demand globally (approximately 23 610 TWh). Roughly half of this heat demand for the European industry is in the temperature range below 400 °C.
Breakdown of the final energy demand in European industry by broad application, process heating demand by temperature level and energy source2.
In the EU only 23% of the energy for heating and cooling comes from renewable energy sources3. There are two reasons for the limited uptake of renewables: the intermittent character of wind and solar; and the need to produce heat at a reasonable price. The latter can be achieved by using high temperature heat pumps (HTHP) as the heat output can be considerably larger than its equivalent in electricity use. This is typically expressed as Coefficient of Performance (COP), the ratio of heat output over electricity input. With typically COPs of 3 or higher, this means either a factor 3 higher uptake of sustainably produced heat or a factor 3 reduction in required renewable production capacity when compared to an e-boiler or comparable direct heating technology. A bottom-up estimation4 of the European market potential has identified a potential of 23 GW of heating capacity for HTHP, of which more than 50% for heating capacities below 10 MW.
Fossil fuel based heat supply compared to heat pump driven heat supply.
One of the challenges of (further) uptake of HTHP is the relatively high capital expenses (CAPEX), which requires maximising its operating hours to achieve sufficiently short pay back times and therefore mainly is considered for covering the baseload. The peaks in heat demand, e.g. during startup or in batch processes, cannot be covered nor can the heat pump be stopped during times of (renewable) electricity scarcity (and high prices) without losing heat production. By combining the HTHP with thermal energy storage (TES), peak heat demand and periods of electricity scarcity can be covered. As the COP of heat pumps is significantly reduced by increasing temperature lifts, latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) is the preferred type of TES for steam-based systems because it has the highest thermal energy density over a few degC temperature range. Although both LHTES and HTHP exist at a (pre)commercial level, the development of a combined system for industrial heat is still at a low TRL level.
Integration of CHASE concept in an energy system based on electricity from intermittent, renewable energy sources5.
3Eurostat,5Heat Pumping Technologies Magazine, Vol. 41 no 1/2023
CHASE Objectives
Demonstration and validation of a fully integrated HTHP/LHTES system
The operation of a fully integrated HTHP/LHTES system at TNO providing 100 kW heat output with at least 50 K temperature lift, combined with a 100 kWh LHTES at 150°C
The modeling of a virtually integrated system at DLR combining HTHP and LHTES at 250°C
Demonstration of system’s performance meeting the design parameters through measurements, where the aim is to achieve >50% of Carnot efficiency (=fraction of theoretical maximum achievable heating output) and less than 5 K average driving force for fully charging LHTES within 1 hour
Validation of model calculations being within 10% of measured system’s key performance indicators (efficiency, power output, temperature levels and thermal losses)
Determination business case analysis and market potential
Investigation and definition of success criteria on next-generation technologies for a stable implementation of fully integrated systems in the long term
Identification of most suitable applications for the combined system concept based on business-case analysis with and for industrial end users and equipment supplier(s)
Identification of location-specific challenges and benefits of the combined systems for deployment in industry sectors such as food and building materials, via use cases provided by the industrial end users (Novo Nordisk and Trespa) and suppliers (StandardFasel) in the project consortium;
Estimate application potential (# of units, expected sizes in MW and MWh) for combined systems for the individual countries present in the consortium as well as EU27
Environmental and societal benefits
Determining the overall added value of the system, including environmental and societal benefits, compared to existing/alternative technologies (e.g. battery storage, direct electric heating, sensible heat storage).
About CHASE4HEAT
CHASE aims at developing combined high temperature heat pump and latent thermal energy storage
systems to enable industrial processes using sustainable electricity from intermittent sources.
The CHASE project has the potential to significantly reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas
emissions in the industrial sector, contributing decisively to the EU’s climate neutrality goals by 2050.
The aim of the CHASE project is therefore: to enable efficient integration of renewables providing heating of
industrial processes by combining HTHP and LHTES at a relevant industrial scale.
CHASE aims to increase energy efficiency and reduce emissions in process industries by optimizing
thermal energy flows. The built combined HTHP and LHTES installation will be scaled to at
least 1 MW in a follow-up demonstration project.
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