REVEAL: New energy storage solution using aluminium

Europe aims to become climate-neutral, yet a critical challenge remains affordable seasonal energy storage. While renewable electricity is abundant in summer, energy supply drops in winter just as heat demand reaches its peak and solar generation is at its lowest.

The EU-funded REVEAL project has developed a technical solution by converting aluminium oxide into aluminium metal in an environmentally friendly manner. The result is a renewable metal fuel, which can be stored easily, using aluminium to provide electricity and heat for buildings and industry. This ground-breaking technical solution will enable to store large amounts of energy with an unmatched energy storage density of over 15 MWh/m3 at an attractively low cost, without losses and with lower environmental impact than today's solutions. For example: cost for converting electricity into a seasonally storable form will be less than 7 ct/kWh, and the easily transportable energy vector can be used for heat and electricity or hydrogen production wherever and whenever needed, from a few kWs to the MW range.

The innovation is more cost effective compared to existing solutions and can moreover store renewables for months or even entire seasons at times when renewables cannot be used extensively. This technology is key to Europe's transition to a climate-neutral society.

More information: CORDIS project factsheet