Irena: Thermal energy storage to play key role

Thermal capacity is expected to grow threefold by 2030, helping industrial sectors to increase their use of renewable energy

Overhauling the global energy system to bring it in line with the Paris Agreement will require increasingly rapid uptake of renewable energy—but this process will intensify the problem of efficiently storing energy. Integrating ever more renewables, particularly from solar and wind, into the energy mix intensifies the task of managing inherent variability across daily and seasonal timescales, according to International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) speakers at a virtual event on Tuesday. Energy storage technologies give system operators the flexibility to match supply and demand. Thermal energy storage technology stores thermal energy by heating or cooling a storage medium so that the ener