Heat Water Storage Pooling

Due to their storage capacity, heat storage systems offer the potential to provide flexibility for the energy system. Sensitive heat storage units are already being used for this purpose today via ripple control units that enable the operation of customer-side heating appliances and storage units at favourable times. Local heating networks and heating centres in multi-storey residential buildings are usually coupled with thermal (and electrical) on-site production and are therefore only operated and optimised according to the needs of the heating network.

The aim of this project is to develop and test an integrated approach to optimise the interaction between existing heating applications, their storage systems and wind production in the wind region, taking into account the technical, economic and social aspects of the relevant interest groups and upgrading the central wind control room by connecting a heat storage pool as flexibility for integrating wind generation.

A concept for the optimised and holistic management of hot water storage tanks in a flexible pooling approach is being developed. In addition, the heat storage units of at least 30 individual customers as well as those of a district heating network and five multi-storey residential complexes within the wind region will be connected to the wind farm operator's control room for demonstration purposes and the operation of the pooled hot water storage units will be optimised. The following aspects will be analysed during the demonstration phase: Minimisation of costs for customers / suppliers due to optimised storage operation; grid operation optimisation through vertical pooling of heat storage systems; higher integration potential for RES by shifting P2H operation to times of high production; avoidance of wind turbine shutdowns; avoidance of control and balancing energy.

Overall, there is enormous potential for the utilisation of hot water storage systems as flexibility. In the wind region of northern Burgenland alone, there are 10,000 small thermal storage units combined with electrical heat generation, several hundred units in residential buildings and 7.1 GWh of district heating potential per year.

At the end of the project, a multipliable approach will be available for the nationwide introduction of the pooling of heat storage systems at all levels for the continuous optimisation of the energy system and the market integration of wind energy.