Design Analysis of a Particle-Based Thermal Energy Storage System for Concentrating Solar Power or Grid Energy Storage

Oct 29, 2026

Energy storage is essential for scaling renewable integration and strengthening low-carbon power supply. This paper presents a standalone thermal energy storage (TES) approach for grid support in concentrating solar power and grid applications. Using stable, inexpensive solid particles as the TES medium enables scalable capacity and low cost, potentially outperforming batteries and competing technologies with fewer geological constraints. The design covers containment using a concrete silo with internal insulation and evaluates economics when integrated with Brayton combined-cycle generation, highlighting dispatchable renewable value.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages33

Reading Time1 h 23 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

1 Introduction

Dispatchable grid power challenges and TES role

Particle-TES advantages and thermal power cycles

Prior work and system integration with sCO2 and BCPC

Standalone particle-TES system concept

Design Analysis of a Particle-Based Thermal Energy Storage System for Concentrating Solar Power or Grid Energy Storage Zhiwen Ma 1,a Patrick Davenport,a and Ruichong Zhangb a.National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 15013 Denver West Parkway, Golden, CO 80401 b.Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401 Abstract Energy storage is becoming indispensable for increasing renewable energy integration and is critical to the future low-carbon energy supply. Large-capacity, grid scale energy storage can support the integration of solar and wind power and support grid resilience with the diminishing capacity of baseload fossil powerplants. With the development of thermal energy storage (TES) for concentrating solar power systems, standalone TES for grid integration becomes attractive due to the declining renewable generation cost and an increasing need for energy storage. The standalone TES system introduced in this paper can play a big role in the carbon-free energy future with capacity larger than batteries and cost likely lower than other energy storage methods such as pumped storage hydropower and compressed air energy storage, both of which also have geological limitations. To this end, we describe a TES system that uses stable, inexpensive solid particles as a TES media to provide scalable, low cost energy storage. The particle-based TES has the ability to drive various thermal power cycles including conventional steam-Rankine, air Brayton turbine with combined cycle ability, or the emerging supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton power cycle. This work describes the containment design method including a concrete silo and an internal-insulation layer for the particle-TES system. The economic analysis shows significantly low storage cost when the particle-TES is integrated with Brayton combined cycle power generation. The paper shows the design approach of the particle-TES system and its economic potential for bulk energy storage. The advantage of the particle-TES system as a promising bulk energy storage method is its ability to economically support dispatchable renewable grid penetration for larger capacity and longer discharging hours than current battery storage technologies. Keywords: Thermal energy storage; solid particles; electric energy storage; concentrating solar power; concrete silo container 1 Introduction The variable nature of the renewable energy sources creates challenges in providing the dispatchable grid power. The increasing renewable generation and grid penetration need largescale and low-cost storage solutions. A thermal energy storage (TES) system stores heat in large capacities, which can be used on demand for thermal-power generation. TES has been developed with a concentrating solar power (CSP) system, in which solar energy is first collected and converted to thermal energy prior to the generation of electricity. The TES in a CSP system can shift power generation to hours with higher energy prices or provide baseload power [1] . Similarly, integration of TES with nuclear reactor technologies may increase the flexibility and profitability 1 Corresponding author. E-mail address: [Zhiwen.ma@nrel.gov](Zhiwen.ma@nrel.gov), phone (01) 303-275-3784 of nuclear power generation [2] . A standalone TES system for electricity storage can be attractive due to a continuing cost drop of wind and solar power, and the need of dispatchable renewable generation [3] . The growing role of TES among energy storage technologies has increased the importance of understanding its design and economics, particularly on a particle-based TES system introduced in this paper. CSP systems that use particle storage are under development worldwide [4–8] . Particle-TES has several advantages over a traditional molten-salt TES system by eliminating issues of salt freezing at low temperature, high-temperature salt stability, and corrosion to metal parts. The increased operating temperatures

FAQs

What is the main goal of the particle-based TES system described in the paper?

The paper aims to provide scalable, low-cost energy storage for concentrating solar power and grid energy storage using stable solid particles as the TES medium.

How does the particle-TES system enable different power cycles?

The particle-TES can supply thermal energy to drive thermal power cycles such as steam-Rankine, Brayton combined cycle configurations, and emerging supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) Brayton power cycles.

What containment and design approach does the paper analyze?

The paper describes a containment design using a concrete silo and an internal insulation layer for the particle-TES system.

Oct 29, 2026

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