Underground thermal energy storage with heat pumps : an international overview

The technology of underground thermal energy storage (UTES) has evolved considerably over the past 25 years. This article reviews this development and summarises the latest technologies and current trends for UTES with heat pumps. UTES is widely used for cold storage and combined cold and heat storage, particularly in Sweden, Canada and the Benelux countries (i.e. Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). Some new applications are also discussed: industrial process cooling, road de-icing, heat and cold supply at petrol stations, etc. Heat pumps frequently form an integral part of these applications. In addition to this overview, the topical articles found in this issue of the IEA Heat Pump Centre Newsletter give more detail of applied techniques, and present examples from various countries.Godkänd; 1998; 20070209 (ysko)