LaFlex
06.2024 – 01.2027
Development, evaluation and pilot testing of an advanced, piloted latent heat energy storage system (LTES)
- Enabling LTES to participate in balancing energy markets
- Increased benefits for end users through flexible and cost-efficient energy utilisation
Project content
The mission of La-Flex is to develop an advanced piloted latent heat energy storage (LTES) system that provides instantaneous state of charge (SoC) determination and thermal power control (TPC) for improved controllability. Furthermore, the project will be further innovated by integrating this pilot into a model predictive control (MPC) system with market placement and electricity price forecasting to enable effective participation in balancing energy markets. In addition, La-Flex will conduct a comprehensive replicability study that includes techno-economic analyses, life cycle analyses (LCA) and research into new application possibilities. This initiative is a collaboration between research partners SINTEF Energy Research (SER), the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and the Technical University of Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS) as well as industry partners Cartesian (CAR), AInergy (AIE) and Kommunal Landspensjonskasse Eiendom (KLP).
In line with the CM2023-06 call for heating and cooling technologies, La-Flex focuses on three key dimensions: enabling the participation of LTES in balancing energy markets, increasing end-user benefits and promoting sector coupling and grid integration. These efforts contribute directly to the development of efficient, climate-neutral heating and cooling solutions, with the aim of achieving fully climate-neutral systems across Europe by 2050. Through its collaborative and innovative approach, La-Flex aims to revolutionise the heating and cooling landscape, optimise energy consumption, improve end-user benefits and increase grid resilience.
