Techno-Economic Analysis of a Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage System with 3-Dimensional Horizontally Directed Boreholes

Abstract

Geothermal energy storage provides opportunities to store renewable energy underground during summer for utilization in winter. Vertically oriented systems have been the standard when employing boreholes as the means to charge and discharge the underground. Horizontally oriented borehole storage systems provide an application range with specific advantages over vertically oriented systems. They are not limited to the surface requirements needed for installation with vertical systems and have the potential to limit storage losses. Horizontal systems can be incorporated into the built environment and utilize underground storage sites below existing infrastructure. An experimental study examines configurations using a mix of renewable energy (photovoltaic panels) and grid energy to charge a storage system during summer for use during winter. A comparison of five different borehole configurations at three different loading temperatures was composed using an experimentally validated numerical model. The horizontal systems studied and analyzed in this work showed improved performance with scale and charging temperature. This paper supports further exploration into specific use cases for horizontal borehole thermal energy storage systems and suggests applications which would take advantage of better performance at scale.