This request for information (RFI) is intended to inform the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) on the specific research, development, and demonstration opportunities to enable cost-effective production of hydrogen, ammonia, liquid fuels—such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel—and solid fuels using concentrating solar-thermal energy.
In addition, SETO seeks information on thermal energy storage (TES) for concentrating solar power and concentrating solar-thermal (industrial) applications. While TES is an integral feature of concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) generation, other applications of TES include energy supply for industrial process heat. Multiple modes of TES include sensible heat, latent heat, and thermochemical energy storage. Sensible heat TES using molten nitrate salt is currently used in commercial CSP plants. High temperature sensible heat storage in tanks of large size have had inconsistent operational success. Future generation CSP plants may make use of particles or rock to store thermal energy as they do not suffer from temperature limitations. This RFI will focus on improvements to various TES technologies appropriate for CSP integration for both power and industrial decarbonization applications.