HYSTORE at ENLIT 2024
ENLIT is one of the most important events in the energy sector in Europe and is in constantly growing and this year was in Milan from 22 to 24 October. As HYSTORE mission is to develop new energy solutions in the field thermal energy, we decided to be there and play our part.
Together with HYSTORE, ThumbsUp project shared the booth with us as HYSTORE’s sister project and because both projects have been financed under the call HORIZON-CL5-2022-D3-01-14 and both are exploiting the same technologies for the thermal energy storing at residential level. The HYSTORE and ThumbsUp projects were included in a specific area dedicated to the EU project. This kind of organisation guaranteed the EU project and also HYSTORE a high visibility to the visitors, but in general it works well to promote multiple networking opportunities with EU project stakeholders.
HYSTORE was on stage in two collaborative speaker sessions “Storage technologies” and “A future based on RES” where the project was represented by Marco Rocchetti from R2M Solution in the quality of project manager. The first session, “Storage Technologies”, focused more on new technologies for energy storage to support the grids. HYSTORE analysed the evolution of energy networks, highlighting the urgent need to integrate energy storage in the decentralised energy model to support renewable energy sources (RES).
In recent decades, the increased penetration of RES, characterised by an aleatory and low level of programmability, generates imbalances and network congestion, with a direct impact on the optimisation of RES. Innovative technologies for sector coupling, such as Thermochemical Energy Storage (TcESt) and Phase Change Materials (PCM) combined with heat pumps, which will be demonstrated in the four Hystore demonstration sites, will be able to unlock the energy flexibility to support the energy networks during the energy transition.
Thermal energy storage is even more integrated in district heating and cooling networks, creating a positive effect between energy consumption and renewable energy production. This positive effect could be optimised through innovative energy business models promoted by new figures as smart aggregators, players able to manage energy flexibility in the energy market. The discussion between the project speakers also touched on technological bottlenecks and urgent regulatory needs, such as the need for improved standards and regulations to support energy storage, which in some situations is not fully developed. The challenges presented by the projects, in particular by HYSTORE, showed the need to reduce storage costs, which are currently not competitive with traditional systems.
On the last day of the ENLIT event, HYSTORE participated in the second speaker session “A future based on RES” in collaboration with RISE Research Institute of Sweden as dissemination and communication leader for the ThumbsUp project. Both projects are members of the BRIDGE initiative. This session focused on examples of how new technologies and sources can shape renewable energy and its integration in the near future. Thermal storage technologies also contribute to support situations where connection to the energy grid is not allowed. The discussion, fuelled by interesting questions from the participants, analysed different scenarios of energy storage, for example the advantage of storing electrical energy instead of thermal energy.
In conclusion, participation in the event generated considerable interest and increased awareness of HYSTORE issues, enriched by interesting face-to-face meetings with stakeholders attracted to the stand at the end of the lecture session and intrigued by the project roll-ups and demonstration videos.
