Replacing Fossil-Fueled Combined Heat and Power Plants with Malta’s Pumped Heat Energy Storage Technology to Provide Clean Power and District Heat

Abstract

This study analyzes the potential integration of a 100 MW_el, 36-hour Malta Pumped Heat Energy Storage (PHES) system into the district heating network of the city of Hamburg, Germany, using energy from a nearby offshore wind farm that would otherwise be curtailed to charge the system. Publicly available data showing the times when curtailment instructions were given by the transmission system operator were used to determine the hours during which the storage system should be charged. Malta’s proprietary hourly performance model was used to simulate the behavior and performance of different plant configurations. It was shown that this configuration could avoid the curtailment of 227 GWh_el of wind energy per year. The study showed that the system could provide 117 GWh_el of electricity to the grid, as well as 72 GWh_th of thermal energy for Hamburg’s district heating network, during periods where less renewable energy was available. This system could reduce the annual CO₂ emissions by 101,400 tonnes compared to the coal-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plant that it would replace.