Introduction

This presentation outlines why WindTP is very likely to become extremely important in the future and it is broadly accessible to anyone familiar with general aspects of energy systems and how they are changing as we introduce more and more renewable energy generation. The presentation has three main sections: (a) why flexible generation such as WindTP is necessarily becoming much more valuable than inflexible generation, (b) why the most cost effective and highest performance energy storage systems supporting electricity grids worldwide are those which store energy prior to generating electricity and finally (c) what the development schedule is for WindTP from here on.

A copy of the slides can be downloaded here

This presentation is a technical overview of WindTP. It should be accessible to anyone with A-level physics who retains at least a basic knowledge of the gas laws and the ideas of work done in gas compression. This exposure of WindTP explains the system components and the seven possible modes of operation. It divulges the system pressures and temperatures at different points in the system during the different operating modes and includes some indications of why these pressures and temperatures matter. To understand WindTP in depth requires a complete understanding of the formal thermodynamic concept of “exergy” and that concept is avoided in this presentation to retain accessibility as far as possible. The presentation includes links to open-access journal papers describing the system engineering in far greater depth. Brief mention is made of the compressor and expander technology that can deliver the very high efficiencies required to make WindTP competitive. The key aspects of thermal storage and heat transfer are also covered at a surface level.

A copy of the slides can be downloaded here

In this short talk, we consider what are the alternatives if wind power continues to penetrate much further into the world's electricity systems. The main points made are that although there are many ways in which the essential flexibility can be realised in future, all have shortcomings and costs. Interconnectors and demand-side management are identified as important future contributors to grid flexibility but both are incomplete solutions. Batteries are easily seen to be far too expensive for bridging the timescales typical of wind power variation. Other well-established energy storage technologies are either location-restricted or difficult to make perform well. Some time is given to considering other ways in which energy storage might be integrated with wind power generation also.

A copy of the slides can be downloaded here