Polar Night Energy and Vatajankoski, an energy utility based in Western Finland, have together constructed a sand-based thermal energy storage. It is the world’s first commercial solution to store electricity in the sand as heat to be used in a district heating network. The storage, with Polar Night Energy’s patented heat storage system inside, is placed on Vatajankoski’s power plant area, and it provides heat for Vatajankoski’s district heating network in Kankaanpää. “The construction of the storage went well, especially considering that the solution is completely new. We managed to get everything in order despite some challenges and a short delay. Now the sand is already hot,” says Polar Night Energy’s Co-Founder and CTO Markku Ylönen and continues,”We have already learnt that our system has even more potential than we initially calculated. It’s been a positive…
Storage – First Commercial Sand-based Thermal Energy Storage Is in Operation
