Electricity stored in chemical energy carriers can be used to generate electricity again. This is why chemical energy carriers are suitable for long-term storage. One disadvantage, however, is that a lot of energy is lost during conversion. Therefore, one must always assess whether it is more financially sound to convert electricity into chemical energy carriers or to use the renewable electricity directly.
Forms of Power-to-X storage are:
- Thermal energy storage (sensitive heat and cold storage, latent heat storage, thermochemical storage). In the industrial sector, these are heat (including steam) and cold storage systems. In the construction sector, this equates to space heating and hot water supply.
- Chemical energy storage (power-to-gas, electrolysis of hydrogen, synfuels).
This is also referred to as sector coupling, as energy is used across sectors. The following are possible through conversion into chemical energy carriers:
- Hydrogen can be produced,
- methane and synfuels can be produced for mobility applications,
- long-term storage facilities for reverse power generation can be created and
- fuel for heating and cooling applications can be extracted.
It is important for the storage possibilities in the different sectors to be accessible to each other. Electrical power storage in the form of heat (Power-to-Heat) is also an important element for the energy system of the future.