Performance benchmark of thermal energy storage concepts in concentrating solar power

Thermal energy storage (TES) plays a critical role in enhancing the efficiency and dispatchability of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants by mitigating solar energy intermittency. Although molten salts remain the dominant TES solution, alternative systems such as solid-state and latent heat stora...

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Autores: Tagle-Salazar, Pablo D., Cabeza, Luisa F., Prieto, Cristina
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10459.1/469292
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.127183
https://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/469292
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Sensible heat
Latent heat
Mathematical modelling
Concentrating solar power
Thermal energy storage
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spelling Performance benchmark of thermal energy storage concepts in concentrating solar powerTagle-Salazar, Pablo D.Cabeza, Luisa F.Prieto, CristinaSensible heatLatent heatMathematical modellingConcentrating solar powerThermal energy storageThermal energy storage (TES) plays a critical role in enhancing the efficiency and dispatchability of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants by mitigating solar energy intermittency. Although molten salts remain the dominant TES solution, alternative systems such as solid-state and latent heat storage offer promising advantages. This study analyses the performance impact of different TES technologies—two-tank molten salt, concrete-based storage, and phase change materials (PCMs)—when integrated into CSP systems. By comparing key performance indicators under identical operating conditions, this study provides insights into the suitability of each TES technology for CSP plant operations. The results highlight the trade-offs between energy yield, efficiency, and footprint. All three concepts demonstrated comparable performance at both the system and TES levels, with disparities of less than 3 %. The advantage of PCM lies in its substantial volume reduction of approximately 27 % compared to molten salt, whereas concrete TES achieves similar outcomes with a slight increase in volume relative to molten salt TES volume.This project was funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement 101084182 (HYBRIDplus). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. This work was partially funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación – Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) (PID2021-123511OB-C31 - MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, UE), by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades - Agencia Estatal de Investigación (MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033) (RED2024-153629-T), and by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades - Agencia Estatal de Investigación (MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 and FSE+) (PID2024-156068OB-C21). This work is partially supported by ICREA under the ICREA Academia programme. The authors at the University of Lleida would like to thank the Departament de Recerca i Universitats of the Catalan Government for the quality accreditation given to their research group (2021 SGR 01615). GREiA is certified agent TECNIO in the category of technology developers from the Government of Catalonia.Elsevier2026info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.127183https://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/469292reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunyainstname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)Inglésinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2021-2023/PID2021-123511OB-C31info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2024-2027/PID2024-156068OB-C21Reproducció del document publicat a https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.127183Applied Energy, 2026, vol. 404, 127183info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/HE/101084182cc-by (c) Pablo D. Tagle-Salazar, Luisa F. Cabeza, Cristina Prieto, 2026Attribution 4.0 Internationalinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/oai:recercat.cat:10459.1/4692922026-05-29T05:05:01Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Performance benchmark of thermal energy storage concepts in concentrating solar power
title Performance benchmark of thermal energy storage concepts in concentrating solar power
spellingShingle Performance benchmark of thermal energy storage concepts in concentrating solar power
Tagle-Salazar, Pablo D.
Sensible heat
Latent heat
Mathematical modelling
Concentrating solar power
Thermal energy storage
title_short Performance benchmark of thermal energy storage concepts in concentrating solar power
title_full Performance benchmark of thermal energy storage concepts in concentrating solar power
title_fullStr Performance benchmark of thermal energy storage concepts in concentrating solar power
title_full_unstemmed Performance benchmark of thermal energy storage concepts in concentrating solar power
title_sort Performance benchmark of thermal energy storage concepts in concentrating solar power
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Tagle-Salazar, Pablo D.
Cabeza, Luisa F.
Prieto, Cristina
author Tagle-Salazar, Pablo D.
author_facet Tagle-Salazar, Pablo D.
Cabeza, Luisa F.
Prieto, Cristina
author_role author
author2 Cabeza, Luisa F.
Prieto, Cristina
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Sensible heat
Latent heat
Mathematical modelling
Concentrating solar power
Thermal energy storage
topic Sensible heat
Latent heat
Mathematical modelling
Concentrating solar power
Thermal energy storage
description Thermal energy storage (TES) plays a critical role in enhancing the efficiency and dispatchability of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants by mitigating solar energy intermittency. Although molten salts remain the dominant TES solution, alternative systems such as solid-state and latent heat storage offer promising advantages. This study analyses the performance impact of different TES technologies—two-tank molten salt, concrete-based storage, and phase change materials (PCMs)—when integrated into CSP systems. By comparing key performance indicators under identical operating conditions, this study provides insights into the suitability of each TES technology for CSP plant operations. The results highlight the trade-offs between energy yield, efficiency, and footprint. All three concepts demonstrated comparable performance at both the system and TES levels, with disparities of less than 3 %. The advantage of PCM lies in its substantial volume reduction of approximately 27 % compared to molten salt, whereas concrete TES achieves similar outcomes with a slight increase in volume relative to molten salt TES volume.
publishDate 2026
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2026
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.127183
https://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/469292
url https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.127183
https://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/469292
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2021-2023/PID2021-123511OB-C31
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2024-2027/PID2024-156068OB-C21
Reproducció del document publicat a https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.127183
Applied Energy, 2026, vol. 404, 127183
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/HE/101084182
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv cc-by (c) Pablo D. Tagle-Salazar, Luisa F. Cabeza, Cristina Prieto, 2026
Attribution 4.0 International
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
rights_invalid_str_mv cc-by (c) Pablo D. Tagle-Salazar, Luisa F. Cabeza, Cristina Prieto, 2026
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
instname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
instname_str Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
reponame_str Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
collection Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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