Yesterday's Fossil Fuel Power Plants: A Key Role in Tomorrow's Green Transition
September 4th, 2023
Breakthrough energy storage technology will give old fossil fuel power plants a new future as green batteries. The springboard is a new joint European project on Bornholm, Denmark, aimed at demonstrating that long-term storage of wind and solar energy is possible at scale. The goal is to significantly reduce storage costs and thereby accelerate the green transition.
In Europe, billions have been invested in fossil fuels and combined heat and power plants, which risk becoming worthless in a fossil-free future. A new Horizon project is set to change that. In the "2nd Life to Power Plants" (2LIPP) project, supported by a grant of 87 million Swedish kronor from the EU and with a total budget of 145 million Swedish kronor, partners from six European countries will come together to transform previously outdated facilities into green batteries. This will be a cornerstone of tomorrow's CO2-free energy supply.
“There is no doubt in my mind that 2LiPP will be one of the most important springboards on the path to the green transition and the energy supply of the future. I am therefore especially pleased that the project is anchored in our power plant and our expertise.”
In the Bornholm project, a fossil power plant is being transformed into a battery that stores excess green energy and returns it to the grid when wind and solar energy sources fall short. The goal is to showcase a scalable hybrid storage solution comprising three technologies combined in a new energy management system, utilizing existing plant infrastructure. This is aimed, among other things, at achieving lower establishment costs for fossil-free facilities. It enables the expansion of energy storage globally — an essential prerequisite for further growth of solar and wind energy. According to Emil Løvschall-Jensen, Head of Hyme Energy, they are building the world’s first energy storage with a floating sodium hydroxide solution, commonly known as caustic soda, where they will store green energy as heat and return it to the grid as needed. Hyme Energy is the only company in the world with experience in neutralizing the corrosive properties of hydroxide salts, and they are now ready to commercially scale it globally.
The benefits of using hydroxide salts for combined heat and power production include very low material costs, high energy density, high temperatures up to 700 degrees, and energy storage for up to two weeks. In addition to energy storage in salt, the hybrid storage consists of used car batteries from PLS Energy Systems and a high-tech flywheel from QuinteQ that stores energy in short intervals. These three storage technologies are integrated by an energy management system from Pini Solutions, which utilizes the entire energy storage to balance the power grid and provide district heating and electricity as needed.
According to Fredrik Stigebrandt, Technical Manager at PLS Energy Systems, the use of used car batteries for energy storage is both a significant environmental benefit and contributes to keeping costs down.
“Even when a car battery is down to 60-70% of its capacity, and therefore unable to deliver the performance needed by an electric vehicle owner, it can still be used for stationary charging. At the power plant, we also don’t have the same space limitations as an electric vehicle.”
The transportation sector contributes more than just old car batteries. Flywheel technology was developed within the aviation industry and is quite advanced,” says Margien Storm van Leeuwen, Head of QuinteQ. She describes how, with the help of magnetism, they have created a flywheel that hovers without axles and operates entirely without friction, resulting in very high speeds. The higher the speed, the more power can be stored. This technology ensures long life, low operating costs, and stable operation.
A large number of European knowledge and technology partners are also involved in the 2LIPP project. They all see significant potential in enabling the power grid and district heating sector in Europe, and globally, to utilize existing infrastructure in a green context. Gabriele Pesce, Director of Innovation & Sustainable Finance at Euroheat & Power, believes that the 2LIPP concept is highly interesting for the district heating sector. Transforming previously fossil-driven production facilities into energy storage infrastructures can provide a new perspective on sector coupling. Combined with district heating networks, this new generation of combined heat and power plants demonstrates the potential for district heating to increase flexibility and the use of renewable energy in energy systems.
The 2LIPP project is anchored in Energy Cluster Denmark, a Danish energy cluster organization that shares the view of a project with enormous potential.
“Innovation projects need to solve relevant and pressing problems and have a significant impact. This is very much the case here. Global estimates show that the potential retrofitting of facilities will enable the retention of 1,200 billion euros in assets. 15-20% of these assets are in Europe. This makes the perspective very interesting, even beyond Europe’s borders”
For more information, questions, and comments, please contact:
Sune Falther, Press Contact at Energy Cluster Denmark
Email: sfa@energycluster.dk
Phone: +45 6160 0180
Bornholm: Over the past 15 years, Bornholm has been a role model for a large number of development and demonstration projects in energy technology. Under normal circumstances, 99 percent of the electricity produced on Bornholm comes from solar, wind, biomass, and liquid manure.
Budget: 145 million SEK, of which 87 million SEK comes from the European Union (Horizon-CL5-2022).
Project Partners:
Bornholms Energi & Forsyning
Energy Cluster Denmark
QuinteQ (flywheel, Netherlands)
Hyme Energy (salt reactor)
PLS Energy Systems (battery storage, Sweden)
Fraunhofer (research and development, Germany)
Danish Technological Institute
Gdansk University of Technology
Technical University of Denmark
Euroheat & Power (international network for district heating)
Pini (Energy Management System, Sweden)
Netzgesellschaft Eisenberg (network company)
Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena
Koksik (Polish coal power plant in Reda)
