Next Generation Grid Scale Thermal Energy Storage Technologies (NexGen-TEST)

The energy systems in both the UK and China face challenges of unprecedented proportions. In the UK, it is expected that the amount of electricity demand met by renewable generation in 2020 will be increased by an order of magnitude from the present levels. In the context of the targets proposed by the UK Climate Change Committee it is expected that the electricity sector would be almost entirely decarbonised by 2030 with significantly increased levels of electricity production and demand driven by electrification of heat and transport. In China, the government has promised to cut greenhouse gas emission per unit of gross domestic product by 40-45% by 2020 based on the 2005 level. This represents a significant challenge given that over 70% of its electricity is currently generated by coal-fired power plants. Energy storage has the potential to provide a solution towards these challenges.
Numerous energy storage technologies exist currently, including electrochemical (batteries, flow batteries and sodium sulphate batteries etc), mechanical (compressed air and pumped hydro etc), thermal (heat and cold), and electrical (supercapacitors). Among these storage technologies, thermal energy storage (TES) provides a unique approach for efficient and effective peak-shaving of electricity and heat demand, efficient use of low grade waste heat and renewable energy, low-cost high efficiency carbon capture, and distributed energy and backup energy systems. Despite the importance and huge potential, little has been done in the UK and China on TES for grid scale applications. This forms the main motivation for the proposed research. This proposed research aims to address, in an integrated manner, key scientific and technological challenges associated with TES for grid scale applications, covering TES materials, TES components, TES devices and integration. The specific objectives are:
(i) to develop novel TES materials, components and devices;
(ii) to understand relationships between TES material properties and TES component behaviour, and TES component behaviour and TES device performance;
(iii) to understand relationship between TES component behaviour and manufacturing process parameters, and
(iv) to investigate integration of TES devices with large scale CAES system, decentralized microgrid system, and solar thermal power generation system.
We bring together a multidisciplinary team of internationally leading thermal, chemical, electrical and mechanical engineers, and chemical and materials scientists with strong track records and complementary expertise needed for comprehensively addressing the TES challenges. This dynamic team comprises 15 leading academics from 4 universities (Beijing University of Technology, University of Leeds, University of Nottingham and University of Warwick, and 2 Chinese Academy of Sciences Research Institutes (Institute of Engineering Thermophysics and Institute of Process Engineering), and 7 industrial partners.

The beneficiaries of the NexGen-Test Programme include: (a) Government Agents (who will gain support to meet their medium and long term energy and environmental challenges, and obtain data for development and implementation of policies for energy storage technologies); (b) Industry Partners (who will be able to obtain state-of-the-art developments in thermal energy storage and associated areas, gain in-depth knowledge of formulation and fabrication of novel thermal energy storage materials, components, devices and integration, extend their portfolio of suppliers or customers' base through close interactions with other industrial partners during the project meetings and workshops, and gain more opportunities to take up thermal energy storage and associated technologies arising from the research programme); (c) Researchers at all levels involved in the programme (who will be able to gain opportunities to develop their career, publish research outcomes in leading journals with international authors and hence increase their exposure and competitiveness, and be engaged in the knowledge transfer and commercialization activities); and (d) Society (society will benefit from the programme with a potential to transform the energy industry through increasing efficiency, enhancing the security of supply, and accelerating the transition to a low carbon economy).
A dedicated project website will be established for (i) providing open access to progress reports and publications arising from the project, and general project information and key results for non-research community, (ii) advertising engagement activities, and (iii) hosting data gathered through the projects.
We will disseminate the project outcomes to academics, industrialists and the general public in the UK, China and the globe through leading international conferences and events. Our outputs will be published in an extensive range of learned journals.
We will make use of our project review meetings and workshops to engage our project partners. We will also offer bespoke presentations to other organisations as needs arise from the UK, China and globally. Discussions with industry partners will provide not only advices on the research directions, but also a reality check on our research outcomes in terms of technical and commercial viability.
We will proactively organise national and international conferences / meetings in energy storage and associated areas, and will extend our networking activities through close interactions with other relevant programmes such as UK Supergens and Grand Challenge energy storage programmes, the China MOST 973, 863 and other 12th and future 13th Five-year research programmes, Chinese Academy of Sciences key energy research programmes, and other relevant international programmes (e.g. US DOE, German DLR, and current and future EU programmes).
We will work closely with technology transfer or equivalent offices of both the UK and Chinese partner institutions to protect IPRs arising from the project. The project management team will monitor the project progress and engage institutions' research support teams from early stage to maximise the opportunities.
We will put mechanisms in place to ensure that each member of the team benefits from the development of their career into new areas resulting in new publications, collaborations, exposure and skills. We shall pay specific attention to the training and career development of PDRAs, who will be assigned academic mentors, and encouraged to present their findings at the UK, China and international conferences, to interact closely with both academics and industrialists within and outside the consortium, and with UG, MSc and PhD students through project co-supervision, and to organise regular meetings to help them acquire leadership and management skills.