Yvonne Bäuerle

By using a peak load auxiliary heating system, oversizing of the heat pump can be avoided. Oil and gas peak load boilers are standard today but should be replaced in the future due to their CO2 emissions and measures to fight climate change. The utilization of biomass as an energy source is comparatively more complex and domestic biomass resources are already largely exhausted. Energy carriers X, which are produced based on renewable electricity (Power-to-X), could replace fossil-fueled peak load coverage in the future.

Renewable Metal Fuels (ReMeF) are seasonal energy carriers which are able to enhance the energy security. We investigate the contribution that ReMeF can make as combined heat and power elements of the building stock a) to cover the local demand for electricity and heat and b) to feed electricity into the grid to support the energy system. In focus are metals as winter-energy suppliers based on their availability, cost, and chemical properties, which potentially can achieve greenhouse gas savings compared to import-options or natural gas based systems. PeakMetal is co-funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), and lasts from December 2022 to December 2023.

SPF has the technical lead in the EU Horizon Europe project reveal. Within this project, a seasonal energy storage cycle is developed that is based on the oxidation and reduction of aluminum as an energy carrier. The main responsibilities of SPF, besides the technical lead, is the development of technologies for Alu-to-Energy conversion: the conversion of energy that is stored chemically within the aluminium into heat and power. This development is in close collaboration with the institute UMTEC of OST. REVEAL is co-funded by the European Unions Horizon Europe Programme and Swiss State Secretariate for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), and lasts from July 2022 to June 2026.

Clean water, a reliable power supply and cooling systems for medicines and vaccines are not a given in many rural hospitals in Africa. To ensure better healthcare also in remote regions, the EU is supporting SophiA project, which relies on modular containers to produce drinking water, heat, cold and electricity using solar energy. SPF Institute for Solar Technology is part of the international team responsible for the solar technology, the Life Cycle Assessment of the SophiA systems as well as the energy management and control of the subsystems.

Within this project the potential of large thermal energy storages to facilitate the decarbonisation and simultaneous expansion of thermal networks are analysed. Different techniques of short-, medium- and long-term heat storage are considered. The focus is on the replacement of fossil peak load, the increased integration of waste heat, the shift of energy from summer to winter, and innovative approaches of sector coupling to balance production and demand of electricity.

The analyses are carried out on the one hand using representative generic thermal networks, and on the other hand for specific case studies of the participating industrial partners. In this way, generally valid results can be achieved, as well as a high probability to induce real pilot and demonstration projects.