In order to secure the future supply of electricity from renewable resources such as photovoltaics or wind energy, it is important to be able to provide electricity even when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to use new types of electricity storage systems that are able to quickly store temporary surpluses of electricity and provide the required electrical energy quickly and flexibly at a later time. The idea for such a flexible electricity storage system has been developed by researchers at the HSZG over the past three years and translated into a concept for implementation. The result is the TMS battery. This is currently being constructed and researched in the Zittau power plant laboratory.

The special thing about the TMS battery is that the electricity is stored using steam! The TMS battery is a thermo-mechanical electricity storage system (CARNOT battery) for sector coupling of electricity and heat. At its heart is a multi-cylinder piston engine that can be operated both as a heat pump (compressor) and as a heat engine (expander). This allows electricity to be stored in steam and converted back into electricity.

The TMS battery, its development and the associated research activities also interested Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. On May 27, 2022, MDR-Wissen published two articles about our current joint research project on the thermo-mechanical electricity storage system (TMS battery) in the Zittau power plant laboratory.

Further information on the project can be found on the project website