Thermal energy storage runs hot and cold in South Africa

February 24, 2015

GreenTech Media noted that one of the most important energy trends to play out in 2014 was the rising deployment of renewable energy and energy storage. The latter technology offers opportunities to make up for the weaknesses of the former, especially when it comes to reducing peak demand and delivering electricity with greater reliability. Utilities and facility managers in the United States weren't the only market for energy storage deployments, however. Last year also saw the expansion of thermal energy storage in South Africa as the country grappled with rolling blackouts.

South African government commits to stopping blackouts
Triple Pundit reported that the South African government pledged in December of 2014 to triple the amount of electricity capacity generated by renewable energy. At least 100 MW of this capacity will be provided by the Xina Solar One plant, which will be up and running by the end of 2017. Like several major renewable projects in the United States, the plant will take advantage of molten salt thermal energy storage. Abengoa, one of the companies behind Xina Solar One, has already worked on a successful solar storage plant in Chile that will run as a 24 hour base load power plant.

Storage shifts peak demand for utility customers
Additional instances of energy storage have been deployed in South Africa to ease costs for customers, according to AllAfrica. For instance, the Redstone Solar Thermal Power plant will use a mix of thermal energy storage and solar power to supply power during peak demand periods for over 200,000 South African homeowners, hopefully as early as 2018. And it is not just hot solar energy that's being collected. Cool thermal storage has been deployed in cities such as Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg. The Durban City Hall, for instance, houses a public library, auditorium, art gallery, a museum that displays a wide specimen of fossils including that of the dodo- and within its gracious fascade this century old building is cooled with ice.

Modern thermal energy storage is capable of delivering power to users on-demand, eliminating the need for fuel-burning peaker plants or other less sustainable strategies that have been historically used to meet peak loads. Hundreds of millions of Africans will gain access to electricity for the first time by means of solar and energy storage. Both hot concentrating solar power and cool ice storage will help ensure that power is affordable and reliable. Energy storage projects can have a positive economic impact on the surrounding communities as well. By creating additional jobs or reducing the cost of electricity during peak periods, new energy storage facilities put cash back into the pockets of local consumers.