Project Description
Future energy systems will be dominated by renewable electricity generation from wind and solar, characterized by temporal variability and spatial mismatch between supply and demand. Ensuring system stability, security of supply, and cost efficiency therefore requires flexibility solutions in the form of energy storage, sector coupling, and demand-side adaptation. While a wide range of energy storage technologies is already available, their effectiveness depends strongly on how well they are matched to specific applications, such as industrial processes, buildings, district heating systems, mobility, or grid services.
IEA ES Task 46 addresses this challenge by introducing an application-oriented perspective on energy storage selection. Rather than starting from the properties of storage technologies alone, the task focuses on understanding application requirements in terms of energy form, capacity, power, duration, temperature level, response time, and cost constraints. These requirements are systematically matched with storage technology characteristics through a structured match-making matrix. The task further evaluates and prioritizes storage-application pairs according to their relevance for the future energy system, with particular emphasis on CO₂ emission reduction potential, system flexibility, and techno-economic performance.
The work of Task 46 is organized into four interconnected subtasks: development of a match-making matrix, collection of best-practice examples, evaluation and prioritization of storage-application matches, and communication and dissemination of results. The Danish participation contributes to all four subtasks by providing modeling approaches, Danish industrial and energy system use cases, and experience from cross-sectoral energy planning. Through its participation, SDU supports the development of decision-support tools that enable policymakers, planners, and industry stakeholders to select energy storage solutions that are both technically appropriate and economically efficient, thereby accelerating the transition toward a flexible, low-carbon energy system.
Project Summary
| Project period | 1 January 2026 - 30 June 2028 |
| Total budget | DKK 2.095.000 |
| Funding agency | Energiteknologisk Udviklings- og Demonstrationsprogram (EUDP) |
| Organization managing the project | Aalborg University (AAU) |
| SDU project manager | Prof. Zheng Grace Ma |
| Additional partners |
- Aalborg University (AAU) |
