Thermal Storage Power Plants – Beyond easy renewables

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Abstract The energy transition faces a next step. Until now, renewable energy installations entered the power sector with minimal disruption. However, as the share of wind and PV electricity increases, conventional power plants are becoming economically unviable. Curtailments and fluctuations are rising and the residual load coverage, grid stability and security of supply challenge the sector. In previous studies, Thermal Storage Power Plants (TSPPs) have been introduced as a solution for these challenges. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the TSPP’s role in the energy system as well as barriers and activities needed to integrate TSPPs. The main findings are the need for technology-open political and economic conditions, mechanisms and regulations, the need for tight CO2-balances for truly green electricity as well as to overcome the separate examination of load coverage, grid stability and security of supply by a holistic approach for a sustainable, cost-efficient, secure and resilient energy system.
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Thermal Storage Power Plants – Beyond easy renewables | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Thermal Storage Power Plants – Beyond easy renewables Judith Jäger, Philipp Trompetter, Franz Trieb, Gerrit Koll, Maria Isabel Roldan Serrano This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6425888/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The energy transition faces a next step. Until now, renewable energy installations entered the power sector with minimal disruption. However, as the share of wind and PV electricity increases, conventional power plants are becoming economically unviable. Curtailments and fluctuations are rising and the residual load coverage, grid stability and security of supply challenge the sector. In previous studies, Thermal Storage Power Plants (TSPPs) have been introduced as a solution for these challenges. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the TSPP’s role in the energy system as well as barriers and activities needed to integrate TSPPs. The main findings are the need for technology-open political and economic conditions, mechanisms and regulations, the need for tight CO2-balances for truly green electricity as well as to overcome the separate examination of load coverage, grid stability and security of supply by a holistic approach for a sustainable, cost-efficient, secure and resilient energy system. Physical sciences/Energy science and technology/Energy modelling Physical sciences/Energy science and technology/Energy storage Physical sciences/Energy science and technology/Renewable energy/Solar energy Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6425888","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":441629320,"identity":"8a722658-b187-438d-a765-67e56dfb2472","order_by":0,"name":"Judith Jäger","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA7klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYGgwNAghnCrWCWAZIGhLUchGs5w8xDUAtYAVAL1IA2IrQwz0jeePjjDgZ2/vb2i48r51nzmDcwb3yA12Ez0goOHDzDwCxx5kyx4dlt6TwyB9iK8VrDOCMH6Jc2oF9u5KRJNm47zCPBwGMmQZQW+ftv0n82zgFrMf9BlBaDG+zHGBsbILbg08HA2POs4MDZNglmwzM5zJINx9J5JJjZivE6zLA9efOHyjabZLnjxx9+bKixlpNgb974Aa+WBjAlkczAwAMNJ2a8zmJgkIfSdgwM7A8IqB0Fo2AUjIKRCgBVC0t7WyYQBgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"German Aerospace Center","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Judith","middleName":"","lastName":"Jäger","suffix":""},{"id":441629321,"identity":"dfbb7bc3-74ac-4cf4-b42d-9c8963bfe88a","order_by":1,"name":"Philipp Trompetter","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3754-3247","institution":"German Aerospace Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Philipp","middleName":"","lastName":"Trompetter","suffix":""},{"id":441629322,"identity":"969f4a3c-682e-41ad-a63d-76bd9208f546","order_by":2,"name":"Franz Trieb","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Emeritus, German Aerospace Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Franz","middleName":"","lastName":"Trieb","suffix":""},{"id":441629323,"identity":"a903d778-6874-45c5-978e-f7e1448c7555","order_by":3,"name":"Gerrit Koll","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"German Aerospace Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gerrit","middleName":"","lastName":"Koll","suffix":""},{"id":441629324,"identity":"25ff198b-278a-45af-8a01-3bd4e2accae0","order_by":4,"name":"Maria Isabel Roldan Serrano","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"German Aerospace Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maria","middleName":"Isabel Roldan","lastName":"Serrano","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-11 07:35:41","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6425888/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6425888/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":80538450,"identity":"7335f566-2511-4252-bea4-0c3c47287007","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-14 12:28:25","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1459873,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"2504NatureEnergyManuscriptThermalStoragePowerPlantsDLR.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6425888/v1_covered_8fa27f9f-410a-4275-8d6b-cda077e35811.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Thermal Storage Power Plants – Beyond easy renewables","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6425888/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6425888/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The energy transition faces a next step. 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