Heat, as an inevitable form of energy in the process of conversion and utilization, carries the core value of people's livelihood and is also a "hidden loss" that needs to be optimized urgently in the energy system. With the in-depth advancement of the "double carbon" goal, how to achieve low-carbon transformation of the heating system and create a new multi-energy complementary thermal power system has become the core issue of the industry.

Recently, Zhang Dongsheng, Secretary General of the Thermal Power Industry Committee of the China Energy Conservation Association, pointed out that thermal storage, as a key enabling technology for the low-carbon transformation of the heating industry, is playing a crucial role in the integrated pattern of source, network, load, and storage. It is solving the problem of time and space mismatch between supply and demand, and achieving the core function of "peaking and valley filling" flexible peak regulation, providing key support for the construction of new thermal power systems.

Storage technology becomes the core

Solving the problem of energy system's time and space mismatch

Currently, thermal energy consumption accounts for an important proportion of the country's total energy consumption. "In 2025, the energy consumption of China's thermal system accounted for 11% of the total energy consumption in the country," said Jiang Xiaoxia, deputy director of the Institute of New Energy Storage Technology at the State Electric Power Investment Group Science and Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd. "However, the current heating system in China is still dominated by high-carbon structures, and there is no mature technology that can meet the requirements of low-carbon, safety, stability, and low cost at the same time, and there are structural contradictions such as waste of waste heat and insufficient heat supply at the end, which urgently need to be regulated and balanced by large-scale thermal storage systems."

Industry insiders point out that as a technology that developed earlier than electrochemical energy storage, thermal energy storage is not only the core support for the construction of new thermal systems, but also a key link in the construction of a new power system. At the same time, it serves the upgrading of the thermal industry and the transformation of the power system, and is a rigid demand for the transformation of the energy structure. "Now, when the industry mentions energy storage, or integrated energy storage, it usually thinks of electrochemical energy storage. But from the perspective of domestic industrial development, the earliest industrialized energy storage technology is actually thermal energy storage technology," said Jiang Xiaoxia.

Thermal energy storage technology refers to the technology that absorbs and stores solar radiation or industrial waste heat through a heat storage medium, and releases energy on demand. The mainstream thermal energy storage technology is mainly divided into three categories: sensible heat storage, phase change storage, and thermochemical storage.

Jiang Xiaohua introduced that the thermal storage technology has a strong inclusiveness, which can achieve multi-source input and multi-scene output. Electric power, steam, solar thermal, industrial waste heat, etc., can be converted into thermal energy for storage; the back end can cover the full range of energy demand such as heating, gas supply, cooling, and power generation. The thermal application temperature range is complete, from the deep cold of -40 degrees Celsius, air conditioning cooling, low-temperature municipal heating, to industrial high-temperature steam supply, all temperature zone energy demand can be matched through thermal storage technology.

Policy release dividend

The industry is entering a critical period of low-carbon transformation.

Entering the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, as a key area to ensure people's livelihood and achieve the "double carbon" goals, China's heating industry is experiencing systematic changes.

Ma Yong, deputy secretary-general of the China Energy Conservation Association, pointed out that the installed capacity of new energy heating continues to grow, and the proportion of heating from non-fossil energy such as geothermal, biomass, and solar energy has steadily increased, laying a solid foundation for the low-carbon transformation of the industry. "By the end of 2025, the total clean heating area in China exceeded 16 billion square meters, the proportion of clean heating increased to more than 65%, and the clean heating rate in northern regions reached 75%, exceeding the mid-term goal of the '14th Five-Year Plan' period. The installed capacity of new energy heating and the proportion of non-fossil energy heating have steadily increased," he said.

At the national level, heavy policies have also been continuously introduced to ensure the low-carbon transformation of the heating industry. The "14th Five-Year Plan for Modern Energy System" clearly lists "clean and low-carbon heating" as a key task, and the "Carbon Peak Implementation Plan for the Urban and Rural Construction Field" requires "optimizing the operation efficiency of the heating system, promoting the replacement of clean heating, and reducing the carbon emission intensity of heating". It also proposes to promote the low-carbon transformation of the heating industry through the adjustment of heat source structure, energy-saving transformation of the transmission and distribution system, and intelligent regulation, to clarify the direction and consolidate the guarantee for the low-carbon transformation of the industry.

"From the overall development of thermal storage technology, every step is promoted by national policies. The pilot policy for the flexibility transformation of thermal power has promoted the large-scale development of water storage technology; the implementation of national solar thermal power generation demonstration projects has driven the iterative upgrading of solar thermal storage technology; the recent Special Action Plan for the Upgrading of Coal-fired Power Enterprises has set higher standards for the climbing speed and load adjustment range of coal-fired power units. The traditional boiler system has a slow climbing speed and can only rely on high-temperature energy storage technology to make up for the shortcomings, thus promoting the rapid popularization of high-temperature molten salt storage in the coal power industry. In addition, the National Energy Administration has vigorously promoted the construction of zero-carbon industrial parks, which has also provided a broad application space for various thermal storage, cold storage technologies," said Jiang Xiaoxia. "At this stage, conventional solar salt and improved low-melting-point molten salt are still the mainstream materials of the industry and are also the core supporting technologies for zero-carbon industrial parks, industrial steam supply and other scenarios."

Ma Yong pointed out that the industry is accelerating the realization of three major transformations under policy guidance. "Currently, the heating industry is at a critical window period for transformation, transitioning from traditional fossil energy dependence to multi-energy complementary clean heating, from a single heating model to a comprehensive energy service that integrates source, grid, load, and storage, and from extensive operation to smart heating."

Multi-path Coordination

Building a sustainable development system for zero-carbon heating

Faced with building a zero-carbon, low-carbon development path, industry insiders unanimously believe that a single electrification transformation cannot support the industry's comprehensive transformation, and it is necessary to rely on low-cost, large-scale heat storage technology, combined with diversified paths to work together to solve the problem of heating transformation.

Feng Wujun, Chief Expert of Beijing Jing Neng Carbon Asset Technology Co., Ltd. and Deputy Secretary-General of the Carbon Neutrality Research Association, Carbon Neutrality Society, proposed: First, strengthen the improvement of energy efficiency, focus on promoting the utilization of waste heat and energy conservation and emission reduction; second, large-scale development of renewable energy, to achieve "eating up" of geothermal, air source heat pump, biomass and other resources; third, implement carbon compensation for traditional thermal sources such as natural gas and coal, to ensure a smooth transition.

Jiang Xiaohua believes that technological innovation is the core driving force for the high-quality development of the thermal storage industry. In the process of technological iteration and upgrading, it is necessary to strictly control the full-cycle construction and operation costs of projects, strengthen the level of cost control, and lay a solid foundation for the large-scale application of various thermal storage technologies.

The utilization of waste heat has become the main force at present. Feng Wujun emphasized that compared with the renewable energy that is suitable for local conditions, the large-scale utilization of waste heat is the "main force" of zero-carbon heating. "It is calculated that by 2050, China's process industry will still have 480 million tons of standard coal equivalent of waste heat, and the waste heat of data centers and substations will reach 200 million tons of standard coal equivalent, and the waste heat of sewage treatment will remain stable at 180 million tons of standard coal equivalent. The combined waste heat of thermal power, nuclear power and waste incineration power generation can provide nearly 1000 million tons of standard coal equivalent of heat."

"The final form of zero-carbon heating is to build a multi-heating source, multi-user, cross-regional heating network of 'renewable energy + large-scale waste heat + seasonal storage of heat'. With the upgrading of heat pump technology, by combining steam generators and compressors, it can meet the heating and steam demand of different scenarios. In the future, heat power plants will be widely equipped with large storage tanks, realizing the decoupling of heat sources and heat demand, and jointly promoting the low-carbon reconstruction of the heating industry, providing a solid support for the implementation of the 'double carbon' goal." said Feng Wujun.

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