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District heating plants to store electricity from wind turbines
The Danish District Heating Association expects that more than 20 heating element systems will have been installed by the end of this year
Surplus production of electricity from Danish wind turbines is currently being exported abroad at very low prices, but now Danish district heating plants are busy installing heating elements, so that the surplus electricity can be stored as hot district heating water.
The Danish District Heating Association, which reports the news in a press release, expects that more than 20 heating element systems with a total effect of more than 200 MW will have been installed in district heating plants by the end of this year.
Heating elements work in a similar way to giant immersion heaters, which can automatically heat water when there is surplus production of electricity from wind turbines. The system regulates itself based on electricity prices. When the heating elements are switched on, the district heating plant's own electricity-generating plants are switched off and do not use fossil fuels such as natural gas.
Technical consultant John Tang of the Danish District Heating Association says: "That is why this is a really good way in which to integrate the entire energy system and optimise resources by making wind into heat instead of letting wind turbine electricity be more or less wasted, since it can't be stored in other ways."
62% of Danish households are supplied with district heating, which is generated from many different sources including CHP plants, surplus heat from industrial production, solar heating and waste combustion.
