In tandem with continual progress to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix, the demand from refrigeration, air-conditioning, and heat pumps will surge dramatically during the next few decades. Global cold demand accounts for approximately 20% of total electricity consumption and is currently increasing at a rate of approximately 13% per year.
These challenges have triggered a rapidly growing interest in dynamic cold thermal energy storage (CTES). The combination of intermittent renewable power generation and increased cooling demand requires energy storage to achieve greater flexibility. The use of highly dynamic CTES offers solutions that electrical batteries and chillers simply cannot provide.
The global CTES market is forecast to expand by more than 14% to 2028, and it is expected that by the middle of the next century, the energy consumption of cold demand will exceed that of heat demand. Against the backdrop of climate change and global population increases, the cold supply chain is facing a massive challenge.
