The recent volatility in global and domestic energy markets is driving a fundamental rethink in how we access and use energy. Electrical battery solutions are now giving people the opportunity to store energy captured now, for use later. This makes sense if an electrical end use exists, but what if that end use was cooling? What kind of battery allows us to store energy now, to give us highly efficient ‘cold’ later?

Answer – Glaciem’s Thermcold. A revolution in ice or thermal ‘battery’ technology.

Thermcold’s groundbreaking Phase Change Material and Dynamic Melt system allow users to shift the energy load from the high daytime electricity rates to the lower nighttime electricity rates. How? Simply by recharging the Thermcold unit when energy is at its cheapest, and then using this stored ‘cold’ instead of the grid during peak times. This can reduce refrigeration electricity costs by up to 50% by charging during non-peak hours to discharge during peak-cost hours.  Thermcold units are approximately 36% of the installed cost electrical storage (Batteries) and it makes sense to use the lowest cost option.

Additionally, flexibility around when to run refrigeration means cooling can run at night, using less energy due to lower ambient temperatures.
Exciting hybrid energy systems are made possible through Thermcold technology. Its energy storage capability resolves the mismatch between generation hours and electricity use so that solar and wind power can form an even larger slice of the national generation grid. Making ice with the sun and the wind!

This same flexibility can help smooth out electricity use, reducing the need for expensive, peak-driven infrastructure, and for extra fossil-fuel generation of power during daylight hours. This reduced ‘peakiness’can in some cases lead to reduced maximum demand (kVA) electricity supply charges and reduce the risk of receiving penalties for exceeding allowable total (kVA) demand.

Thermcold’s thermal storage system can also form part of a robust blackout management system.  When combined with minor electrical storage to manage control systems, pumps and lighting, a combination of a renewable energy source and Thermcold thermal storage technology can allow sites to manage during periods of grid outage, helping avoid food or other perishable losses.