16 April 2025
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On the 18 of March, Juliet Loiselle, Publishing Editor of Heat Pumps Today attended the UK launch of the partnership with Fafco, a thermal energy storage solutions manufacturer and Pure Thermal as its exclusive Sales & Technical Partner/Distributor for the UK and Irish markets.
IceBat, a new thermal energy storage solution, now brought to the UK by Fafco and Pure Thermal provides cooling resilience, peak shaving and cost & carbon savings. With over 1,400 operational IceBat systems across Europe, Fafco is addressing the increasing demand for cost-effective and resilient cooling solutions within the UK.
The system is described as an advanced Cold Thermal Energy Storage (CTES) Phase Change System that enhances cooling system efficiency while significantly reducing operating costs and carbon emissions.
By leveraging low-cost off-peak electricity to create and store cooling energy, the solution provides a fast reacting and highly flexible alternative to conventional electrical battery storage making it particularly suited to the UK’s evolving energy landscape.
Key benefits of the IceBat system include:
Provides cooling system resilience
Reduces the need for oversized chillers/ plant while ensuring peak or contingent demands can be satisfied by maintaining predetermined cooling capacity levels for use at any time.
Enables cooling capacity peak shaving with no additional power supply
Increase on-site cooling capacity from existing systems by accumulating thermal capacity during low demand periods by applying chillers to charge.
Reduces operating costs via accessing variable/lower electricity tariffs
Maximises and enables the use of low-cost electricity by operating chillers/ cooling plant to charge when lower cost tariffs are available.
Provides application flexibility with a complete range of kWh capacities
Can be applied to a wide range of applications with Thermal Battery capacities from 150kWh to 18,000kWh.
Enables carbon reductions to be achieved from cooling systems
Improves the efficiency of existing cooling systems by reducing emissions via operating cooling plant when low carbon input electricity is available.
Delivers application flexibility & seamless Integration
Works with existing chiller/cooling plant without the requirement for independent cooling plant enabling greater flexibility to be delivered from existing assets.
Enables the optimisation of existing cooling systems
The application removes the risk of low demand cooling plant on/off cycling whilst also enabling plant to operate during high efficiency lower temperature overnight periods.
Provides scalable performance
Close control provides variable charge and discharge capability precisely modulating energy transfer with a minimum output f low temperature of 0.5°C.
Compact phase change technology
The storage of thermal energy via phase change is both highly efficient and practical with the space required being 8 x less than if only chilled water accumulation tanks were utilised.
Suitable for both retrofit & new Installations
Enhances the performance of existing cooling systems within retrofit applications and integrates seamlessly into new project designs enabling cooling plant capacity to be reduced.
Meeting the UK’s growing energy storage needs
As energy costs fluctuate and grid resilience becomes increasingly critical, the demand for cost-effective thermal storage solutions is rising. Unlike traditional electrical battery storage, IceBat looks to provide an economical and efficient way to store and utilise energy for cooling applications.
“We’re seeing increasing requirements for load shifting and also capacity management within cooling applications’ commented Garry Broadbent of Pure Thermal, continuing “having developed a strong relationship with Fafco, and being extremely impressed with their proven track record, we are really pleased to now be appointed as their UK partner as we see significant potential for Cold Thermal Energy Storage in the UK & Ireland.”
With a 40-year track record and an installed capacity exceeding 3.6GWh of Cold Thermal Energy Storage, IceBat is a proven solution which is now available in the UK with the capability to deliver immediate benefits for both industrial and commercial cooling applications.
