Within DGE-ROLLOUT, a high-temperature heat pump (HTHPs) at the Fraunhofer IEG in Bochum, Germany is constructed. The 500 kW heat pump system has now reached its planned location and is ready for installation. It will connect the local district heating network to the seasonal high-temperature mine thermal energy storage (HT-MTES). In winter the HTHP will use 60 °C mine water to provide 80-110°C inlet temperature to the heating network. In summer concentrating solar heat panels will climate friendly heat up again the mine water. The system in Bochum will be tested under different conditions to derive optimum operating conditions for seasonal thermal energy storage and function as prototyp for hopefully many other systems.
Enterprises, SME, and national public authorities can profit from the project's experience for future investment decisions and regulations. In fact, on the one hand, the possibility to exploit flooded mine galleries as heat sources has a large potential in many regions in which underground mining was highly developed. On the other hand, it is possible to prove that environmentally friendly solutions such as heat pumps can be employed for elevated supply temperatures. This allows their exploitation starting from now for the energy transformation without the need for refurbishment of the entire district heating network.
Within the Project HeatStore, the development of a high-temperature mine thermal energy storage (HT-MTES) pilot plant was planned. As part of DGE-Rollout, the high-temperature heat pump (HTHP) was designed and implemented.
