Central station thermal energy storage for peak and intermediate load power generation

The application of thermal energy storage to central station power plants allows baseload power-generating technologies to provide peak and intermediate load electric power. DOE has provided funding for a study to investigate the technical and economic feasibility of using molten nitrate salt thermal energy storage in conjunction with pulverized-coal-fired and integrated gasification combined-cycle power plants. The results suggest that the use of thermal energy storage is technically feasible and can reduce the cost of generating peak and intermediate load electric power from coal by between 5% and 20%.