TREASURE at 12th Swiss Symposium Thermal Energy Storage
On January 24, 2025, Wim Van Helden, Project Coordinator of the TREASURE project and Senior Researcher at AEE INTEC, participated in the 12th Swiss Symposium on Thermal Energy Storage in Lucerne, Switzerland. This prestigious symposium brought together leading experts from academia, industry, and utilities to discuss the critical role of Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage (STES) in decarbonizing energy systems.
The symposium explored the critical role of STES in addressing the challenges of the fluctuating energy demands across the seasons, particularly the winter-summer electricity gap. Key topics discussed included the extent of the winter energy gap in the Swiss power system, potential solutions such as large-scale district heating networks and innovative storage technologies, and the various applications of STES, including underground storage, regulatory hurdles, and the feasibility of STES for Dutch district heating.
Furthermore, the symposium showcased the latest advancements in STES technologies, such as sensible, latent, and thermochemical storage, as well as innovative designs for large-scale heat accumulator tanks. A panel discussion, that TREASURE was a part of, focused on the future of STES, addressing the question of whether STES could truly become a game-changer in bridging the winter-summer energy gap and contributing to a decarbonized energy system. The symposium provided a valuable platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration among key stakeholders in the STES field.
During the symposium, Wim presented the challenges and successes of three demonstrators from the TREASURE project, highlighting our innovative solutions within the context of large-scale district heating networks and sustainable energy solutions for a more sustainable European energy sector.
The symposium provided a valuable platform for Wim Van Helden to share insights from the TREASURE project with the Swiss STES community and to engage in discussions on the future of STES technologies.