Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage Market Size and Trends

The global molten salt thermal energy storage market is estimated to be valued at USD 2.02 Bn in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 3.84 Bn by 2031, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.6% from 2024 to 2031.

Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage Market Key Factors

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Market Driver - Increasing demand for renewable energy sources

The global energy landscape is witnessing a gradual yet steady shift towards more sustainable sources of energy that have a lower environmental impact. Renewable energy solutions such as solar and wind power have seen tremendous growth in recent years due to favorable government policies and advancements in technology which have brought down costs significantly. However, intermittent nature remains one of the key challenges for the large-scale integration of these renewable resources into the existing electricity grids. Effective energy storage plays a vital role in addressing the mismatch between the energy generation and demand profile.

Molten salt thermal energy storage systems are ideally suited to overcome this intermittency issue by storing excess heat or cold produced from renewable sources for later use. The thermal energy is stored in the form of sensible heat in molten salts which can retain high temperatures even after remaining still for long durations. This minimizes heat loss and makes it highly suitable for later conversion to electricity to meet demand during off-peak supply periods from renewables. Another salient feature is the capability of molten salt to operate at very high temperatures ranging from 300 to 600 degrees Celsius. This high operating temperature allows for effective integration with solar thermal plants for electricity generation well after the sun goes down.

With governments and regulatory bodies across major economies setting ambitious targets to increase the share of renewable power sources, the need for cost-effective long duration energy storage solutions has risen tremendously. The flexibility and technical advantages of molten salt storage over alternative options have made it a preferred technology solution, especially for utility-scale solar thermal and wind power projects. Countries with very high solar irradiation like Spain, the U.A.E, India, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Australia have already recognized this potential to balance renewable supply using molten salt storage. Strong policy push for renewables along with declining technology costs is expected to drive significant growth in the molten salt thermal energy storage market in the coming years.

Growing thermal energy storage applications

While integrating renewable energy on the grid was the initial driving mission, molten salt thermal storage is now finding wider applications beyond that in other areas. With continual improvements being made to enhance cycle efficiency and reduce costs, the usage has expanded into diverse domains like process heating for industrial operations, space heating/cooling for buildings, and waste heat recovery from manufacturing and other industrial processes. Stored thermal energy can be utilized on-demand to meet process heating needs of various industries like food & beverages, chemicals, mining, etc. without reliance on fossil fuel boilers.

Some major process heating applications that benefit significantly are desalination plants, dairy product pasteurization, textile dying, rubber, and plastics manufacturing. By using molten salt to store excess heat or cold generated from their own operations, these industries can store energy when demand is low for use in off-peak hours, thereby optimizing energy consumption. Advancements are also being made to explore Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage (TES) potential for district heating/cooling applications where a centralized storage system provides thermal demands for multiple buildings.

Additionally, there is increasing focus on research using molten salt storage to efficiently recover and utilize low grade waste heat from diverse industrial processes that currently goes unharnessed. Countries with stringent carbon emission norms are actively supporting such innovative applications of thermal storage to further decarbonize their industrial manufacturing activities. Rising energy costs along with the need to operate processes without disruption while balancing electric grid demands have also propelled market adoption. As commercialization takes off across various niche application areas, overall growth momentum of the molten salt thermal energy storage market is likely to strengthen in the coming years on a global scale.