Climate & Environment
Thermal Energy Storage
Definition
Thermal energy storage captures heat or cold for use at a different time, in three forms: sensible heat storage (hot water tanks, molten salts in concentrating solar power, district heating accumulators), latent storage (phase-change materials, ice storage for cooling), and thermochemical storage. Applications span solar-thermal power after sunset, district heating and cooling balancing, industrial heat, and shifting building cooling loads off peak.
References
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This reference provides supporting context for how “Thermal Energy Storage” is defined and used.
Overview
How it is used
The technology structures CSP plant design, district energy systems, industrial decarbonisation projects and demand response in buildings.
Why it matters
Roughly half of final energy demand is heat; thermal storage is the most direct way to make that demand flexible and renewable.