THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE MARKET ANALYSIS

Market Challenges And Opportunities

Global Thermal Energy Storage Market Drivers:

Growing research &development activities is fostering TES market growth

Active Building Centre Research Program, directed by Swansea University, has recently been bestowed a £146,000 fund. The project is focusing on a technology capable of storing heat for days or even months, aiding the move toward net-zero. It also solves one of the key issues with renewable energy technologies, called intermittency: solar and wind power rely on weather conditions.

Favorable government policies and regulations to propel market growth

Many countries are drafting favorable policies for increase the adoption of thermal energy storages system. For instance, U.S. states such as California provides Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and the Self Generation Incentive Program for installation of Ice based thermal energy storage technology in the state. In addition, in January 2018 New York regulators announced to set a target to deploy 1.5 GW and 3.0 GW of energy storage projects in the state by 2025 and 2030 respectively.

Global Thermal Energy Storage Market Opportunities:

Rapid urbanization across developing countries is expected to provide lucrative market opportunities over the forecast period. The Asia Pacific is the largest market for thermal energy storage with China and India being the key markets. The rapid urbanization and population expansion in these regions are expected to drive the market. Furthermore, the growing infrastructure development and establishment spending in these nations are also driving the market.

The rapid deployment of thermal energy storage systems for space heating, water heating and district heating and cooling applications is projected to serve major growth opportunities. Moreover, rise in demand for heating and cooling solutions, rapid expansion of the thermal energy storage industry, and presence of large business enterprises are further projected to provide market opportunities.

Global Thermal Energy Storage Market Restraints:

Availability of alternate energy storage technologies to hinder market growth

Thermal energy can be stored in a variety of ways: by altering the way heat is absorbed or released, or by conducting chemical reactions that take advantage of thermal properties of certain materials. Common methods include latent and sensible heat (types of heat transfer), phase change materials, thermochemical conversion, and ice and chilled water storage. Hence, presence of substitute is expected to hamper the TES market growth.  

Lack of infrastructure and technicians &experts to restrict market growth          

A large-scale TES requires a dedicated site and a team of engineers to design, construct and operate. This can be difficult to coordinate and lead to inefficiency and cost overruns. Some TES systems require expensive insulation to ensure a constant temperature inside the storage tank, which can make them more costly to install and operate. Additionally, some TES systems are not designed to be compatible with a building\'s structure or HVAC system, which can make them less efficient.