Chile Considers Converting 30 Coal Plants into “Carnot” Batteries
By 2050 Chile plans to be carbon neutral. A crucial part of that goal is the decarbonisation of its energy mix. To do this, all coal-fired power plants will stop operating by 2040.
To deliver maximum benefit, two additional challenges must be met: replacing Chile’s energy currently produced by coal; and finding a use for the 30 plants that will be closed.
So what else could they be used for? Several options are being considered by the government and companies. They include their conversion to biomass or biogas, into desalination plants, or to house the development of new technologies such as Carnot batteries.
Read original full article
#Climate Change
#Coal
#Concentrated Solar Power
#Electricity
#Fresh Water
Atlantis Viewpoint
If, as planned, Chile wants to meet its carbon neutral goal for 2050, all coal-fired power plants will have to stop operating by 2040. The current government’s plan is to cease operations of 30% of their coal-fired plants by 2024, and the rest before 2040. However, the country will have a big challenge to face, replacing its current coal-produced energy with True Clean Energy sources and also finding a good use for these obsolete installations.
This is not just a problem for Chile, but globally. In Germany, a pilot project is being carried out in North Rhine-Westphalia that might work in the South American country. The proposal envisages the conversion of coal-fired plants into thermal storage plants. The idea is to replace the fossil fuel boiler with molten salt ponds as is already done in CSP plants. A technology would allow om demand energy, from the heated molten salt, even when the electricity arriving to the plant may have come and different times from various clean energy sources.
For this reason, and as we have previously commented, by turning coal plants into modern thermal power batteries can repurpose almost all of these assets. Making the transition to clean green energy more and more real. If we invest in True Clean Energy systems and we transform coal power plants to store this energy, air pollution would dramatically decrease and also our carbon emissions would reduce, allowing us to limit the effects and hopefully solve the climate emergency. A win-win for earth, development and humanity.
