Research institute wins silver at Geneva international inventions exhibition

The organizing committee of the 51st International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva recently announced that the collective energy supply system that combines solar energy, geothermal energy and energy storage, developed by State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Research Institute and displayed online, won a silver award.

The project addresses the pressing demand in the clean heating sector for efficiency, stability and cost-effectiveness. It achieves integrated innovation in the fields of multi-energy complementation and thermal storage technology, establishing an integrated clean energy supply system that harnesses solar energy, utilizes geothermal energy, incorporates thermal storage and leverages energy storage.

This system enables the efficient coordination of electricity and thermal energy, along with flexible cross-time allocation. It not only provides technological support for the transformation from "single power generation revenue" to a diversified value model of "power generation + service + adjustment", but also enhances power supply reliability.

Data from the project show that the comprehensive utilization efficiency of solar and and electrothermal coupling exceeds 65 percent, while the energy efficiency of the shallow geothermal heat pump system surpasses 5.0. The overall energy utilization efficiency significantly outperforms that of single-technology approaches.

Shi Peng, a specialist in the power technology business division of a pilot test company affiliated with the State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Research Institute, explained that the system is supported by a smart control platform that combines heat source, load and energy storage.

This platform allows flexible switching among multiple operating modes, including direct heat pump supply, direct thermal storage supply, heat pump with thermal storage and simultaneous storage and supply. It also enables flexible regulation to balance grid peak and valley loads.

The system establishes a clean energy supply model with deep integration of solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, geothermal and thermal storage systems. It adopts a tiered energy supply strategy of "solar energy first, geothermal for adjustment and storage as a backup".

While ensuring the reliable supply of electricity, cooling and heating, this model significantly reduces carbon emissions in industrial parks. Furthermore, it provides replicable and scalable solutions for promoting the integrated use of distributed solar thermal and photovoltaic systems in industrial and commercial sectors, helping to lower carbon emissions per unit of economic output.

The project has been honored with a gold award at the National Invention Exhibition, among other accolades. Its related technological achievements have already been applied in various practical scenarios, such as distributed heating and industrial and commercial heat usage in cities including Yulin, Xi'an and Jinan. The system has demonstrated stable and reliable operation in these applications.

The solar-geothermal-energy storage collaborative power supply system has broad application prospects, said Zhu Chao, director of the power technology business division at the pilot test company affiliated with the Shaanxi power research institute.

It will strongly drive the low-carbon heating and cooling sector toward large-scale and intelligent development, while providing support for demand-side response, rural vitalization and the construction of new power systems, Zhu noted.