Exergy and exergoeconomic analysis of a Compressed Air Energy Storage combined with a district energy system

The potential for using heat generated during the compression stage of a Compressed Air Energy Storage system was investigated using exergy and exergoeconomic analysis. Two Compressed Air Energy Storage systems were analysed: Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) and Compressed Air Energy Storage combined with Thermal Storage (CAES-TS) connected to a district heating network. The maximum output of the CAES was 100 MWe and the output of the CAES-TS was 100 MWe and 105 MWth. The study shows that 308 GW h/year of electricity and 466 GW h/year of fuel are used to generate 375 GW h/year of electricity. During the compression of air 289 GW h/year of heat is generated, which is wasted in the CAES and used for district heating in the CAES-TS system. Energy efficiency of the CAES system was around 48% and the efficiency of CAES-TS was 86%. Exergoeconomic analysis shows that the exergy cost of electricity generated in the CAES was 13.89 ¢/kW h, and the exergy cost of electricity generated in the CAES-TS was 11.20 ¢/kW h. The exergy cost of heat was 22.24 ¢/kW h in the CAES-TS system. The study shows that CAES-TS has the potential to be used both as energy storage and heat source and could be a useful tool for balancing overall energy demand and supply.