Victor-Etienne Viel

BOREALES Energy

BOREALES Energy has developed a compact and scalable solution to convert and store electrical energy into Ice to be then able to match cooling needs at the opportune time. Close to 20% of the world's electricity consumption are nowadays used to meet cooling needs with a continuous growing trend over the next decades, so the energy balance will tend to be even more under tension in this scope - increasing energy costs combined with predictable risks of shortage for energy supply, and in general decarbonization aims, are necessarily leading to a significant intensification in the share of renewable energies among the global mix. Due to their intermittency and time related variability, these latter are however necessarily requiring implementation of efficient methods of storage. The Ice Accumulation and Storage solution developed by BOREALES Energy is a high energy efficiency module adapted to these challenges. Each module constitutes a reserve of 140 kg of ice which represents 13 kWh capacity. Like the cumulus which stores heat during off-peak hours for instant hot water availability at any time, our solution stores the cold and releases it on demand. The modules can then be combined together for sizing as close as possible to the desired cold profile. Thanks to a pinch of only 2°C, energy efficiency is up to 30% higher than existing solutions. It is therefore as much a reduction in consumption with the benefit of being able to act in a concrete, efficient and flexible manner on electricity load management and actively contributing to balancing the network, given the specter of saturation which threatens in periods of high electrical demands. In the specific context of standard cold rooms, the implementation of our module also has the advantage of being able to provide a new solution to "systematic sub-cooling". It thus becomes possible to very significantly improve the energy efficiency of chillers, including under degraded operating conditions.