A building cooperative relies on seasonal storage
With a new storage technology, the use of renewable energy can be optimized. The "Bachwiesen" construction project in Zurich is used to show how this works.
The Zurlinden building cooperative (BGZ) is heading for a new energy future, which is to be realized with the Bachwiesen construction project in Zurich. We are talking about a new storage technology. It is well known that energy demand fluctuates depending on the season, the weather and the temporally varying needs of the residents. According to BGZ, the solar systems on the roofs and facades of the project produce more energy than is needed for seven months.
Therefore, the surplus solar energy in summer should be partially shifted into the energy-intensive winter. This is possible with so-called seasonal electricity storage systems. This is to increase the degree of self-consumption of electricity to 90%, as BGZ lets know.
This works in three steps:
- Charging the battery storage in the house
- Charging the heat accumulators in the heating centers
- Charging the seasonal memory
While the first two technologies will provide short-term storage with day and night balancing, long-term energy storage will take place outside the building, using hydrogen, BGZ writes. The systems would be located outdoors and store up to 120 kg of hydrogen. This corresponds to a stored energy of 4,000 kilowatt hours.
If the settlement consumes more electricity than the solar system or the short-term storage units can supply, the seasonal storage unit will step in for the required electricity through an electrochemical process. In this way, hydrogen and oxygen become electrical energy and water vapor. The resulting waste heat would simultaneously serve to heat water.
An energy source just around the corner
The plant is reported to be about 6 meters long, 2.4 meters wide and 2.6 meters high. A small power plant with direct connection to the house. According to BGZ, the safety of the storage tanks is maintained by highly specified monitoring and control, which are separate from production and storage.
In addition, the storage facility is very safe because most of the hydrogen is bound in the metal lattice of the storage facility and is not stored in a gaseous state.
According to BGZ, the hydrogen is climate-neutral and does not cause any other environmental damage in the event of any escapes.
Source: Building cooperative Zurlinden
