Assessing the technical potential for underground thermal energy storage in the UK

C.S. Brown, I. Kolo, A. Lyden, L. Franken, N. Kerr, D. Marshall-Cross, S. Watson, G. Falcone, D. Friedrich and J. Diamond

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2024, vol. 199, issue C

Abstract: Heating and cooling both make up a large part of the total energy demand in the UK; long-term seasonal thermal energy storage (STES) can address temporal imbalances between varying supply and demand of heat to buildings and processes. Underground thermal energy storage (UTES) can play a role in energy decarbonisation by storing waste heat from space cooling, refrigeration, data processing, industrial processes, harvested summer solar thermal energy or even heat generated by surplus renewable (solar or wind) electricity with fluctuating supply. This paper evaluates a range of UTES technologies in a UK context and addresses geological suitability, storage capacity, low-carbon heat sources, surface heat sources and demand. This review concludes that there is a significant potential for UTES in the UK for both aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) and borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) systems, coinciding with surface heat sources and demand. Therefore, uptake in UTES technology will help achieve net-zero carbon neutral targets by 2050.

Keywords: Underground thermal energy storage; Aquifer thermal energy storage; Borehole thermal energy storage; Mine thermal energy storage; Waste heat; United Kingdom (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2024.114545

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