Concept of offshore direct wind-to-heat system integrated with thermal energy storage for decarbonising heating

Abstract

Decarbonising heating sector is one of the key challenges in reducing carbon emissions. In the UK, the offshore wind energy potential is more than the energy consumption, however, energy storage is needed due to the intermittency of wind energy. A conceptual system is proposed that directly converts wind to heat at the offshore wind farm, stores heat in thermochemical storage, transported to heat users, and discharging upon demand. The LCOE of this system is compared with a reference system and the result shows that the new system has the potential to reduce the cost of transfer energy from the offshore wind farm to the coast. Loading and storing containers at the offshore wind farm need further investigation by marine engineering expertise. Developing a suitable TES system that can be operating under the offshore environment, easy to store and transport, and have low energy loss are the key criteria of this offshore wind system.