Surging Electricity Requirements to Boost Sales of Thermal Energy Storage Systems in Coming Years

The rapid industrialization and urbanization in several countries has massively pushed up the requirements for electricity. This has resulted in the deployment of various types of power-producing units such as CSP (concentrated solar power) plants across the world, which is, in turn, fueling the growth of the thermal energy storage market. According to the National Energy Administration in China, “111 CSP projects are underway in the country, with an aggregated capacity of around 9 GW.”

Furthermore, the organization reports that out of these projects, the first batch having a total power capacity of 1,349.0 MW, has been operationalized recently. The other plants are predicted to be commissioned in the near future, which will further augment the total power capacity in the country. Besides the growing power requirements, the rising requirement for electricity for district cooling and heating purposes is also boosting the worldwide demand for thermal energy storage.

The lack of sufficient independent heating and cooling systems in commercial and residential buildings is pushing up the requirement for electricity supplied by utilities to power these systems. As a result, the utilities sector is increasingly developing energy storage systems that can cater to the power requirements of these heating and cooling systems such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. Due to these factors, the global thermal energy storage market will record rapid advancement in the future years.

The main types of thermal energy storage methods used all over the world include CSP, ice thermal energy storage, pumped heat electrical storage (PHES), and chilled water thermal energy storage. Out of these, the usage of the CSPs was observed to be considerably high during the last few years, because of the sharp surge in the requirement for these systems in the recent years, especially in countries such as the U.A.E., Morocco, and Australia.

When application is taken into consideration, the thermal energy storage market is divided into power generation, combined heating and cooling, and others, that include research and development activities and micro-grid. Amongst these, the combined heating and cooling category registered huge expansion in the market in the years gone by, as per the findings of P&S Intelligence, a market research company based in India, primarily due to the large-scale usage of these devices for district heating and cooling purposes.

Across the globe, the thermal energy storage market is predicted to grow at a rapid pace in Asia-Pacific (APAC) in the upcoming years, on account of the burgeoning requirement for energy in this region. This is because of the increasing population levels in several APAC countries and the rapidly depleting reserves of natural gas and oil. Moreover, the rising utilization of renewable energy in various residential and industrial applications is pushing up the demand for energy storage in the region.

Hence, it can be safely inferred that the demand for thermal energy storage systems will rise all around the world in the forthcoming years, primarily because of the growing requirements for power in residential, industrial, and commercial settings and the increasing usage of HVAC systems in these settings.

Why will Demand for Lithium Air Batteries Swell in Europe in Coming Years?

With the rapid technological advancements and digital transformation in various industries and niches, electronics devices are becoming more and more integral components of everyday lives. Moreover, the rising disposable income of people is massively pushing up the sales of various consumer electronics systems such as laptops, cell phones, and tablets. The burgeoning sales of these products are positively impacting the requirement for lithium air batteries. This is because these devices require these high-performance batteries for their operations.

Additionally, these batteries have much higher capacities for energy storage in comparison to the conventionally used batteries and are thus, heavily used in consumer electronics systems across the world. Apart from the mushrooming sales of consumer electronics products, the rising deployment of electric vehicles, especially in the North American and European countries on account of the increasing implementation of favorable government regulations regarding the usage of these vehicles, is also pushing up the global demand for lithium air batteries.

The increasing environmental damage being caused due to the extensive usage of petrol and diesel-powered vehicles is a major factor fueling the requirement for eco-friendly alternatives such as electric vehicles all over the world. Furthermore, the growing usage of renewable energy and the launch of several clean energy projects are boosting the sales of highly efficient batteries such as lithium air batteries. This is, in turn, causing the rapid advancement of the global lithium air battery market.

The main difference between these batteries and the traditionally used lithium-ion batteries is the fact that unlike the lithium-ion batteries which use intercalated lithium-based compounds, these batteries use air and lithium for facilitating energy flow. Between the solid-state batteries, aprotic batteries, mixed batteries, and aqueous batteries- which are the most commonly used types of lithium air batteries, the solid-state lithium air batteries are quite heavily used in various applications, due to their non-combustible nature which prevents the chances of explosions.

According to the findings of P&S Intelligence, a market research company based in India, the usage of lithium air batteries was very high in automotive applications during the last few years, on account of the high requirement for electric vehicles in several countries around the world in the years gone by. Moreover, the high sales of electric cars in the North American and European countries in the past years fueled a sharp surge in the sales of lithium air batteries.

Globally, the European lithium air battery market is predicted to be very lucrative in the future years, primarily because of the launch of several renewable energy projects such as solar power plants in the European countries. In addition to this, the presence of a thriving consumer electronics industry and the ballooning requirement for electric vehicles in various European countries such as France, Spain, Germany, and Italy are augmenting the sales of lithium air batteries in the region.

Therefore, it can be predicted with full surety, based on the above paragraphs, that the sales of lithium air batteries will climb all over the world in the coming years, mainly because of the growing usage of electric vehicles and the rising sales of consumer electronics devices throughout the world.