Environmental Science and Pollution Research

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27752-1

PROGRESS IN GREEN INNOVATION AND RENEWABLE TO PHASE OUT FOSSIL FUELS

CONSUMPTION

Using existing cold stores as thermal energy storage

Kristian Svane1 · Peter Enevoldsen1 · George Xydis1

Received: 27 January 2023 / Accepted: 15 May 2023

© The Author(s) 2023

Abstract
The industrial cold stores can act as thermal energy stores that can store the energy as passive thermal energy. The cold stores
have intentions to contribute with flexible consumption but need some knowledge about the potential. By cooling the cold
stores and the goods further down when the energy is cheaper, there is a potential of an attractive business case, especially if
the elspot price can be predicted further into the future. The cold stores can provide flexibility by load shifting to the energy
grid by moving their extensive energy use to off-peak hours. To fulfill the potential, it is necessary to measure some data
in the cold stores to be able to control them and ensure food safety. A case study was tested and revealed that by cooling
further in periods of low-cost electricity could results in 30% savings. With proper elspot price forecasting this percentage
could reach up to 40%. Theoretically, by utilizing the full capacity of cold stores in Denmark for thermal energy storage, it
is possible to use 2% of the average wind electricity production.

Keywords Energy storage · Thermal energy storage · Cold store · Industrial refrigeration

Introduction
There are extensive challenges to utilize the large amount
of renewable electricity production in Denmark (Danfoss
2022). The intermittency in the production of renewable
energy does make some challenges towards demand and
flexibility in the use of energy (Akerma et al. 2020; Ener-
gistyrelsen 2021a). Wind energy in Denmark is curtailed in
windy periods, and the flexibility of the wind turbines is used
to regulate due to issues in the Northern German elecitrcity
market (Ketterer 2014; Ackermann 2012). In 2020, 50.4%
of the electricity consumed in Denmark could have been
produced by wind, but because of curtailment, it resulted in
47.1% (Rosted and Rasmussen 2021). To avoid such curtail-
ing for wind power energy, storage can be applied. There are
different possibilities for storing the energy, such as pushing
water uphill — which in Denmark is not so viable due to
Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues
* George Xydis
gxydis@btech.au.dk
1
Department of Business Development and Technology,
Aarhus University, Birk Centerpark 15, 7400 Herning,
Denmark
its flat terrain. Chemical storage via batteries, which comes
with an environmental cost (Dehghani-Sanij et al. 2019), or
squeezing air in the underground, or heating water in the
underground (Lindley 2010). In the latter case, it is thermal
energy, which has the potential to stabilize the fluctuating
imbalances between supply and demand by storing renew-
able energy (Østergaard 2021; Kohlhepp et al. 2019). Fur-
thermore, by utilizing cold stores, such as thermal energy
storage (TES), the buildings and equipment are already built
and are just waiting for a systemized operating strategy (van
der Sluis 2008).
The viability of TES relies on the fluctuating electric-
ity prices (Widmann et al. 2017) and involves for example
temperature changes in vessels that can be heated when the
elspot price is low (Lepiksaar et al. 2021). The purpose of
TES in this case is to accumulate energy by lowering the
temperature in the cold stores when electricity is cheaper
(Fikiin 2015; Xydis 2013). The hypothesis is that TES can
help the electrical grid to shift the use of electricity from the
peak periods to off-peak periods and thereby smoothing the
demand (Yan et al. 2020).
TES cannot only be explained as one specific technology,
and in this case, existing cold stores built to store goods are
studied (Danfoss 2022). Cold stores can act as prosumers
and play a role in the energy aggregation market due to their

13
Vol.:(0123456789)

potential flexible energy consumption (Ma et al. 2017). The
­ 3 of cold stores in
overall potential lies in the 1.9 million m
Denmark (van der Sluis 2008), a country of 43,094 ­km2.
In Denmark, there is a strong correlation between elec-
tricity prices and wind conditions, and during windy days/
hours electricity is cheaper, and the cold stores can act as a
storage asset and will be charged by dropping the tempera-
ture and saving the energy in the goods for later use (van der
Sluis 2008). When the energy prices are high, the cold stores
will stop cooling and discharge the (thermal) battery. By
doing this, the load is shifted from peak hours to off-peak, by
utilizing the capacity in the refrigeration system to process
more energy in off-peak periods as shown in Fig. 1. This is
passive energy storing because it is not generating electric-
ity again but are instead not using energy and smoothing the
demand (Niswander and Xydis 2022).
The cold stores have a huge consumption of electricity,
which means that if it can be used flexibly, this can have a
significant impact on existing facilities (Evans et al. 2014).
The cold stores — in the worst case — are designed for
the capacity when they need to cool down goods but are
often just maintaining the temperature (Ahmad et al. 2020).
The difference between these capacities is the potential for
cooling the goods further down. It also defines the limit
of the speed of the temperature change because it cannot
submit more energy than it is designed for.
The products are the primary temperature exchange
assets because their heat capacity is decisive for the
amount of energy that can be stored. There is a limit to
the span of temperature fluctuations that needs to be fol-
lowed because too many and big fluctuations will impair
the quality of the goods over time — although this needs
to be studied further since the limits are not known, and
relies on the type of goods (Meneghetti and Monti 2015).
This challenge is mentioned by Pedersen et al. (2017),
who states that the possibilities for controlling the tem-
perature in the cold stores are not many. Often, only the
temperature of the air is known which means that if the
temperature of the goods could be measured and studied
the potential would be higher (Nunes et al. 2016). These
barriers need to be overcome to enhance the potential for
Fig. 1  Load shifting
13
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
cold stores to act as TES in macroscale electricity systems
(Grein and Pehnt 2011).
Other types of TES benefit from phase changes in medi-
ums called latent heat, which can consume larger amounts
of energy to cool down goods (Danfoss 2022). These spe-
cific TESs have larger potential because they are devel-
oped for storing energy, and have fewer barriers towards
temperature, food safety, and load capacity. However, the
cold storage facilities are easily accessible and ready for
immediate use, pending a favorable business case (van der
Sluis 2008). However, few, if any studies have adequately
examined the profitability of cold stores, why this study
explores using one standard frozen cold store as a case.
This will reveal whether it is necessary to know if the cold
stores are doing anything similar now and what the possi-
bilities and challenges are. The renewable energy produced
needs to be utilized even though wind energy is curtailed
at some points. This can be reduced by developing energy
stores that can absorb the energy when it is cheap or dur-
ing off-peak and the stored energy is released during peak
hours to relieve the energy grid. The amount of energy
that can, theoretically, be stored and what the potential is
by looking at a realistic case is explored in this study, in
order to define how to managed and control cold stores in
relation to electricity flexibility and prices.
Methodology
This study is combined by compiling knowledge from
technical managers from some of the largest cold stores in
Denmark and knowledge of designing and installing cold
stores by Johnson Controls. Three technical managers from
cold stores were interviewed, to study how they are cur-
rently managing their energy consumption. These were
open interviews on the phone where they could explain
how they manage the energy consumption and how the
way of doing so has developed over time and what their
current plans are.
Furthermore, there is an estimate of the potential energy
storage focusing on cooling frozen stores down. This is con-
ducted in cooperation with experienced engineers at Johnson
Controls by using their data calculation software to design
a simple cold store as a case. The cold store is designed by
looking at a simplified energy balance and testing different
operating solutions to store thermal energy. The energy loss
that is in the current mode and how the energy consumption
is changed by lowering the temperature are estimated (sim-
plified to estimate the potential). The scenarios are held up
against the elspot price to see if there are any possibilities of
optimizing in terms of cost and storing energy even though
the energy use is higher when lowering the temperature.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
The current operation of cold stores
The cold stores are cooled down with industrial ammonia
refrigerant systems in the size between 1 and 5 MW
at − 30 °C. The ammonia systems are equipped with
both reciprocating- and screw compressors that work in
typically 1 or 2 steps (Pearson 2008). The information
used in this section is conducted from the interviews.
Electricity price
The fluctuating electricity price influences how the cold
stores are managed, via the temperature sensors in the
stores. However, there is no systematic way of doing
it. The cold stores are typically forced to run in the late
evenings and nights because this is typically where the
electricity is cheapest. Demand response has not been used
at a large scale as it already has in other scientific fields
(Michalitsakos et al. 2017; Avgoustaki and Xydis 2021).
Two of the biggest cold stores in Denmark, are looking at
the elspot price when it is released at 13.00 every day. It is
a manual process where they are scheduling when to cool
in the stores. Earlier, they had a systematic approach and
at the time when there was the triple tariff, they cooled the
goods further down in the low-price period, the normal
temperature in the middle tariff, and avoided unnecessary
cooling in the high price period.
Differentiated temperature
There are different opinions about cooling the goods fur-
ther down, by having lower temperatures in the cold stores
in some periods and by avoiding cooling in other. One of
the big cold stores in the country chooses not to adopt this
method because they want to avoid having a worse Coef-
ficient of Performance (CoP) in some periods. Despite rec-
ognizing the potential benefits, they refrain from doing so
because of insufficient data on the potential outcome and
due to the lack of understanding of the possible effects on
the products’ quality (Bishnoi and Aharwal 2021).
In the cold stores, they know that they should be aware
in fluctuations of the temperature because it can damage the
goods, but their experience says that it is not a problem for
most of the goods. In one of the cold stores, they did lower
the temperature until 2018 but changed to a new strategy
which they are not satisfied with and are working to go back
to the former strategy again. They have no data about the
temperature of the goods but experienced that they can use
less electricity to maintain − 18 °C after for example a period
with − 24 °C in the stores (Akerma et al. 2020).
Demand response
The cold stores are not participating in any demand response
programs now, but they have considered it because there is
an attractive economy doing so. They do not mention their
potential earnings by participating, but they state that it could
be an income high enough to change their management of
the cold stores. They are offered implicit demand response
programs which are less flexible because they need to volun-
tarily shut down the cooling, which is not always possible for
them because of planned cooling (Ma et al. 2017, Pedersen at
al. 2016). However, lately, demand response strategies have
been in place. The challenge is that they cannot shut down
machines quickly because this can create dangers in handling
the ammonia refrigeration systems (Joshi et al. 2002).
On the other hand, they are flexible enough to move the
consumption of electricity to off-peak, and the technical staff
from all three cold stores acknowledge that this can be done
more explicitly than it is today, which is studied in the fol-
lowing section.
Case study of a standard size cold store
The cold store presented is an imitation of an ammonia
refrigerant system in a cold store built in 2020 for an
abattoir and represents a standard industrial size and setup.
The refrigeration system and specifications are delivered
by Johnson Controls and are presented in the baseload
subsection.
Baseload
To estimate the potential change in the management of the
cold stores, it is essential to calculate the baseload. The base-
load is the load when there is a steady state in the cold store,
meaning that all the goods are cooled down to the necessary
level and are kept at that level (Akerma et al. 2020).
The cold store is 3000 ­m3 and insulated with sandwich
panels of polyurethane that has a heat transfer coefficient
(U-value) at 0.15W/m2/°C (Abdou and Budaiwi 2005).
This type of room is designed for 2000 m ­ 3 of goods according
to Johnson Controls. The goods in the room are assumed to be
minced beef because it is a common food in cold stores, and the
thermal conductivity is like a lot of other meats. The specific
heat capacity (Cp) for frozen minced beef is 1.68 kJ/kg/°C.
The air temperature in the cold store, in this case,
is kept at − 18 °C (max temperature of the goods
at − 18 °C). The room is equipped with evaporators
at a total capacity of 100 kW. The cold store’s volume
can be up to 2 3 packed with goods. The mean annual
/
13
 Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Fig. 2  Principal setup of case

cold store with system infor-
mation. Green values are for
lowered temperature

Danish outdoor temperature is on average 9.1 °C, which
is assumed to surround the cold store (Cappelen et al.
2022). The air change in the room is taking place 4 times
per day (every 6 h).
Losses from machines, trucks, persons, light, windows, and
defrost are omitted to simplify the calculations, which means
that the energy loss to the surroundings would be higher and
that the baseload would be higher. But since it is a steady state
scenario, there will only be minimal activity in the room accord-
ing to the technical manager.
The compressor in this type of setup is a screw compressor,
and Sabroe’s model SAB 193L has CoP for cooling on 2.5 at
Te = −26°C and Tc = 30◦ C. The compressor operates with an
evaporating temperature of − 26 °C because it is necessary to
have a temperature difference between the evaporator coil and
the air to transfer the energy. Industrial ammonia systems in
Denmark are typically calculated at condensing temperature at
30 °C (Tc). The CoP is calculated as shown below:
When the total loss in steady state is 13.3 kW (38.8
kWh/m 3/year), which is the energy that the evaporators
need to transfer to the room to keep the temperature
at − 18 °C. This is at the lower end of the average energy
consumption for a frozen cold store which on average
is 73.5 kWh/m3/year (Evans et al. 2014). It should be
stressed that the difference is due to the omitted heat
impacts in the baseload setup. This entails an extensive
overcapacity in the evaporators that are not used in these
circumstances. It also indicates that there is a possibility
of transferring more energy to the goods to store.
Lowered temperature
The loss through walls and air change increases with a
lowered temperature because the difference is higher.
Qloss−24 = 15.9kW, (5)

Energy produced(Q)
COP = , (1)
Electricity consumption(P)
The system principal diagram is shown in Fig. 2, with the
main information of the system in baseload.
In the baseload, the loss through the walls and air
change in the room is calculated to find the energy
load needed for continuous operation and a steady state
at − 18 °C. Johnson Controls’ software was used to
calculate the losses.
QlossWALLS = 5.7kW,
QlossAIR = 7.7kW,
Qloss−18 = QlossWALLS + QlossAIR = 13.3kW,
For the specific case, the loss is increased by 16%
during lowered temperature. The possibility of storing
energy in the goods is calculated by looking at how much
energy can be transferred into the goods by lowering
the temperature and full utilization of the 100 kW
evaporators. The energy that is stored in the goods
through the cooling is Qgoods.
Qgoods = Qevap − Qloss−24 = 84.1kW, (6)
The energy that is stored results in a lower temperature of the
(2) goods and it is assumed that there will be a uniform temperature
distribution in the goods (Zhao et al. 2020). The temperature is
calculated by this equation:
(3)
Qgoods = mbeef ∗ Cp ∗ ΔT, (7)
(4)
ΔT is the temperature change of the goods.

13
Environmental Science and Pollution Research

ΔT = TmeatBEFORE − TmeatAFTER = −18◦ C − TmeatAFTER , (8) To ensure that the temperature fluctuations for the goods
will not be too high, it is necessary to set a limit for the
Calculating the temperature after 1 h of cooling: charging time to ensure that the temperature of the goods
Qgoods
will not be lowered by more than 2 °C (van der Sluis 2008).
84.1kWh
(9)
TmeatAFTER = tmeatBEFORE − = −18◦ C − kJ
= −18.09◦ C,
mbeef ∗ Cp
2000kg ∗ 1.68 ◦kgC 2◦ C
Max charging time = ◦C
≈ 22 h, (12)
0.09
This means that the potential for cooling down the goods h

is 0.09 °C/h.
Engineers at Johnson Controls are using a 3% increase
in energy use per °C as a reference when the evaporating
temperature for ammonia is lowered, which results in a lower
CoP (Dopazo et al. 2009). The evaporating temperature
is − 32 °C for the − 24 °C scenario, again to ensure a
temperature difference between the air and the evaporator
coil. This means that the evaporating temperature is also
lowered by 6 °C.
2.5
COP = = 2.09,
1.036
Results and discussion
The potential savings by operating the cold store at a
lower temperature to store the energy is calculated by
using the elspot price for 1 week to see if it is possible to
make a running schedule where the goods can remain at a
temperature of max. –18 °C.
Charging and discharging of thermal battery
The charging time of the cold store is determined by ensuring
a maximum temperature at − 18 °C and by ensuring that the
energy balance is positive. When the goods are charged with an
air temperature at − 24 °C (Te = − 32 °C) there is added 84.1 kW.
When the evaporators are operating for a room
temperature at − 24 °C and the “thermal battery” is charged,
the Qloss−24 is used to determine the loss to surroundings.
When the thermal battery is discharged, the Qloss−18 is
used for the calculation because the air temperature will
rise to about the same level as the goods which are closer
to − 18 °C.
The discharging time is determined by looking at the
added energy to the goods to see how long 1 h of charging
will last, compared to the losses of energy.
Qgoods 84.1kWh
Decharging time = ⋅ 1h = ⋅ 1h = 6.32 hours ≈ 6 h 20 min,
Qloss−18 13.3kWh
This means that by having a temperature at − 24 °C, the cold
store only needs to be charged for 1
= 1 = 13.7%
Charging time+discharging time
The energy stored by charging the thermal battery for
22 h is the kWh added:
Estored = 22h ∗ 84.1kW = 1850.1kWh, (13)
And the potential discharge time is then 139 h which will
add a lot of flexibility to the cold store management and for
the electricity providers.
Changing the perspective from the thermal energy stored
to electricity is information hidden within the CoP factor,
which is 2.09 for the lowered temperature case.
(10)
QEvaporator 100kW
COP = => Pcompressor = = 47kW, (14)
Pcompressor 2.09
This means that the cooling system is using 47 kW of
electricity when it is charging the cold store. This amount of
energy reflects only in the case of the 3000 m­ 3 cold store, of
the total 1.9 mio m 3
­ of cold stores in Denmark which means
that this is only 0.16% of the total amount. The total energy
use could potentially be up to 29.75 MWh/h stored if all cold
stores charge at the same time. This equals more than 2%
of the total energy produced by wind turbines per hour on
average in 2021 (Nord Pool 2021).
The maximum amount of energy consumed from the
electricity grid that can be stored in the cold store is the
energy for 22 h:
Estored
=
1850.1 kWh
= 885.2kWh, (15)
COP 2.09
Again, this amount of energy is large, and the cold stores
provide this flexibility to the grid if the potential is used.
Planning of charging and discharging
Planning the thermal storage operation day-to-day, where it
is only possible to foresee the elspot price 24 h ahead, makes
it necessary to imitate the situation similar to receiving the
forecast every day. Companies are used that the charging
will typically occur at night when the elspot price is lowest
(Rybina 2020; van der Sluis 2008). Therefore, example A)
(11) is made by choosing the cheapest hours of charging the
cold store every day. Example B) is set up to exemplify
the potential of having foresight tools that can help plan
1+6.32

of the time. further into the future, by using the lowest prices throughout

13
 Environmental Science and Pollution Research

a whole week. Week 45 in DK1 is used for both examples
and is chosen randomly.
The average price for the week is 1086.1 DKK/MWh,
which is used to calculate the cost of continuous cooling.
The operating cost reflects the price for compensating the
losses to the surroundings in the cold store:
Qloss−18 hours 13.3kW DKK
COP
∗ average price ∗
week
=
2.5
∗ 1.0861
kWh
∗ 168hrs = 970.6 DKK,
Example A) 24 h planning
The charging of the cold store by only having 24 h of
foresight, delimitates the flexibility because the energy
put into the cold stores cannot be lower than the loss to
the surroundings. But to simplify the calculations and
the complexity of choosing the cheapest hours, the rule
is omitted because this is also what they do according to
the interviewees. The minimum hours of cooling per day
are calculated by looking at the overall time it needs to be
charged when operated as TES.
Hours of cooling pr. day = 13.7% ∗ 24 h = 3.29 h ≈ 3.5 h,
The result is rounded up to 3.5 h to simplify the planning. The
planning is done with simple heuristics optimization to choose
the cheapest possible hours of charging the cold store every 24 h.
The schedule can be seen in Fig. 3, where it clearly shows the
night charging tendency as in van der Sluis (2008). By having
this limited time perspective to choose the cooling hours, the
average price for the cooling is 601.3 DKK/MWh. The total
price for cooling is compared to the price for continuous cooling.
100kW DKK
∗ 0.6013 ∗ (7 ∗ 3.5)h = 704.9 DKK, (18)
2.09 kWh
The saving is 29.5% in this case which is why the cold
stores are currently looking at the elspot price to plan
their cooling. However, the cold stores are cooling for a
(16) longer time than 4 h a day because they do not lower the
temperature and use the TES potential, it will still have a
significant effect on them to regulate after the elspot price.
This is a significant change that the cold stores already are
aware of, and that is why they are operating the cold stores
at the night typically between 22.00 and 6.00. Compared to
the night cooling management approach where they keep
the goods at − 18°, the average electricity price between
22.00 and 6.00 in week 45 is 806.87 DKK/MWh, but in
this approach (the night cooling management approach),
the goods are not cooled further down, and it is necessary
to cool the cold store moderately through the day.
Example B) Long term planning
(17)
Planning the thermal storage operation live where it is only
possible to foresee the elspot price 24 h ahead can limit the
flexibility for the energy planning and the flexibility of the
TES. Kiljander et al. (2021) propose a setup for demand
response for building consumption that is controlled by an
Energy Management Agent that is constructed by a neural

Fig. 3  24 h planning operation

schedule of the cold store using Operaon schedule of cold store planned for 24 hours at a me
elspot price from DK1 (West- 2500
Denmark) week 45
Charging periods Elspot price DK1

2000

1500
DKK/MWh

1000

500

0
00 04 08 12 16 20 00 04 08 12 16 20 00 04 08 12 16 20 00 04 08 12 16 20 00 04 08 12 16 20 00 04 08 12 16 20 00 04 08 12 16 20
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
01 05 09 13 17 21 01 05 09 13 17 21 01 05 09 13 17 21 01 05 09 13 17 21 01 05 09 13 17 21 01 05 09 13 17 21 01 05 09 13 17 21
08-11-2021 09-11-2021 10-11-2021 11-11-2021 12-11-2021 13-11-2021 14-11-2021
Date

13
Environmental Science and Pollution Research

network–based algorithm that takes i.a. weather forecasts, Discussion

power market data services, and constraints and objec-
tives from the user into consideration. This will facilitate
a higher possibility to plan the TES charge and discharge
plan live, contrary to a greedy hDKKistic mindset that can
only plan cooling 1 day ahead and choose the lowest prices
for the day.
To imitate a setup with better opportunities for predicting
the development of elspot prices, the same setup is made by
looking at a whole week instead of only 24 h. The week is still
calculated with a total of 24.5 h of cooling like in the day-to-
day planning to compare equally.
The schedule shown in Fig. 4 is planned in a way, where
the energy applied to the cold stores will not be lower than
the loss to the surroundings which also implies that the cold
store cannot be discharged for more than 6 h and 20 min per
hour of cooling/charging.
The average price for the 24.5 charging hours is 511.5
DKK/MWh with the charging effect of 100 kW using an iden-
tical calculation method.
100kW DKK
∗ 0.5115 ∗ 24.5h = 599.6 DKK,
2, 09 kWh
This is a difference of more than 38% from the continuous
operation and almost 15% lower than the 24-h planning example.
The most cost-effective way to operate a cold store involves using
a tool to predict and plan cooling, utilizing the cold store as TES
by lowering its temperature further.
The potential of using the cold stores as TES is there because
the amount of energy that can be stored is significant and the
facilities are there already. An issue is that, as the technical
managers state they do not have a lot of data on their cold
stores, which is essential to optimize the cold stores to
TES. The temperature of the goods is important to keep
below − 18 °C, and therefore this is a simple data point to
start collecting (Pedersen et al. 2017). A tool and software
that can handle these data and use them to plan the cooling
schedule can be covered by the increased efficiency but also
by subsidy schemes that support the spread of sustainable
energy (Energistyrelsen 2021a, 2021b). Even though this
paper primarily addresses the economic benefits of TES,
it indirectly highlights that the cold store companies can
be an active player in the market to support the storage of
energy produced from renewable energy sources (Rao and
Parthiban, 2023).
The cases simulated in the paper are conducted for
steady state conditions where the goods are cooled further
(19) from − 18 °C, only for the sake of using them as TES. How-
ever, dynamic states are often the case in reality. Dynamic
situations are when goods are frozen and cooled down
from for example + 5 °C to − 18 °C. In these situations, it
is also possible to lower the temperature further and plan
according to the elspot price or when there is a surplus in
the production of renewable energy, which probably has a

Fig. 4  Long-term planning

operation schedule of the cold Operaon schedule of cold store planned for 1 week
store using elspot price from 2500
DK1(West-Denmark) week 45
Charging periods Elspot price DK1

2000

1500
DKK/MWh

1000

500

0
00 04 08 12 16 20 00 04 08 12 16 20 00 04 08 12 16 20 00 04 08 12 16 20 00 04 08 12 16 20 00 04 08 12 16 20 00 04 08 12 16 20
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
01 05 09 13 17 21 01 05 09 13 17 21 01 05 09 13 17 21 01 05 09 13 17 21 01 05 09 13 17 21 01 05 09 13 17 21 01 05 09 13 17 21
08-11-2021 09-11-2021 10-11-2021 11-11-2021 12-11-2021 13-11-2021 14-11-2021
Date

13

similar impact on the economy (Xydis 2013). This should be
investigated further to investigate if the cooling time can be
minimized, which could also be beneficial like in this case.
Another topic that is important to improve is data about
when it is necessary to defrost the evaporators because these
situations are huge energy consumers. After all, it injects
heat into the evaporators and therefore also the cold stores
(Goodman et al. 2021). Adaptive defrost cycles can add a
positive effect to the overall efficiency of using the cold
stores as TES (Wang et al. 2013).
The studied case is for frozen cold stores with minced
beef as goods. The temperature can also be changed in
chilled cold stores and for all types of goods. The potential
can be bigger for some types of goods because they are more
reluctant to temperature changes, but some need to stay
within the same temperature to ensure the overall quality
of the products (Kim et al. 2015). However, it should be
stressed that our knowledge around temperature spreading
in the products based on their placement in the pallets is
limited.
The effect on the electricity grid is calculated relative
to the total volume of cold stores in Denmark; however,
this significant effect can be specified by investigating
the division of frozen and chilled cold stores where the
temperature is above 0 °C. In these cases, conditions can
be different because of less flexibility in terms of lowering
the temperatures.
Conclusion
The technical managers at the cold stores reveal a
gap between their intentions of being flexible energy
consumers and what is possible now. They do not have
data about cooling systems and cold stores that provide
them with the possibility of taking advantage of their
cold store as TES, this is especially the monitoring of
the temperature of the goods. They are aware of the
possibilities, both about using the cold stores as TES
and demand response, but do not know the profitability
of lowering the temperature. There is a big uncertainty
about temperature fluctuations in the cold stores and the
quality of the goods (Aung and Chang 2014).
The case reveals that it is profitable to lower the
temperature of the goods by only cooling in periods with low-
cost electricity. In week 45, it was managed to be saved more
than 30% by cooling the goods further down and almost 40%
if it was possible to predict the elspot price up to a week in
advance. By having a software tool that can help foresee the
elspot price for more than a day, the management of the cold
stores will be more flexible and be able to take advantage of
the cheapest electricity available.
13
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
By utilizing the full capacity of cold stores in Denmark
for TES, and if they can all lower the temperature, it is pos-
sible to consume 2% of the average wind electricity produc-
tion. And by investigating this topic further with tests on
cold stores and possible temperature changes in the goods
there is an opportunity to exploit this more.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the engineers
from Johnson Controls since they were allowed to use their data cal-
culation software to design the specific cold store case.
Author contribution KS was a major contributor in writing the
manuscript. PE & GX edited and supervised the work. All authors
read and approved the fnal manuscript.
Funding Open access funding provided by Royal Danish Library
Data availability All data generated or analyzed during this study are
included in this published article.
Declarations
Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attri-
bution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adapta-
tion, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source,
provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes
were made. The images or other third party material in this article are
included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated
otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in
the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not
permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will
need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a
copy of this licence, visit http://​creat​iveco​mmons.​org/​licen​ses/​by/4.​0/.
References
Abdou AA, Budaiwi IM (2005) Comparison of thermal conductiv-
ity measurements of building insulation materials under various
operating temperatures. J Building Phys 29(2):171–184
Ackermann T (ed) (2012) Wind power in power systems. John Wiley
& Sons, Stockholm, Sweden
Ahmad SAH, Ab Rahman MN, Muhamed AA (2020) Optimal tem-
perature in cold storage for perishable foods. In Proceedings of
the 5th NA International Conference on Industrial Engineering
and Operations Management
Akerma M, Hoang HM, Leducq D, Delahaye A (2020) Experimental
characterization of demand response in a refrigerated cold room.
Int J Refrig 113:256–265
Aung MM, Chang YS (2014) Temperature management for the quality
assurance of a perishable food supply chain. Food Control 40:198–207
Avgoustaki DD, Xydis G (2021) Energy cost reduction by shifting
electricity demand in indoor vertical farms with artificial lighting.
Biosys Eng 211:219–229
Bishnoi R, Aharwal KR (2021) Experimental evaluation of cooling
characteristic, airflow distribution and mass transfer in a cold
store. J Food Process Eng 44(2):e13609
Cappelen Å, Glomsrød S, Lindholt L, Rosendahl KE, Wei T (2022)
Description of a 1.5 C scenario with chosen measures. CICERO
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
Report. Available from: https://​pub.​cicero.​oslo.​no/​cicero-​xmlui/​
bitst​ream/​handle/​11250/2​ 99435​ 0/R ​ eport%2​ 008%2​ 0-%2​ 0web.p​ df?​
seque​nce=​1&​isAll​owed=y. Accessed 25 May 2023
Danfoss (2022) What is thermal energy storage? – 5 benefits you
must know | Danfoss. Retrieved December 5, 2021, from
https:// ​ w ww. ​ d anfo ​ s s. ​ c om/ ​ e n/ ​ a bout- ​ d anfo ​ s s/ ​ i nsig ​ h ts- ​ f or-​
tomor ​r ow/​i nteg​r ated-​e nergy-​s yste​m s/​t herm​a l-​e nergy-​s tora​
ge/ (Assessed: 09-Aug-2021)
Dehghani-Sanij AR, Tharumalingam E, Dusseault MB, Fraser R (2019)
Study of energy storage systems and environmental challenges of
batteries. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 104:192–208
Dopazo JA, Fernández-Seara J, Sieres J, Uhía FJ (2009) Theoreti-
cal analysis of a CO2–NH3 cascade refrigeration system for
cooling applications at low temperatures. Appl Therm Eng
29(8–9):1577–1583
Energistyrelsen (2021a) MARKEDSMODEL 3.0 elmarkedet som
NØGLENtil et klima-neutralt samfund. Available from: https://​www.​
ens.​dk/​ansva​rsomr​aader/​el/​marke​dsmod​el-​30. Accessed 25 2023
Energistyrelsen (2021b) Regulering af elområdet i Danmark. From:
https://w​ ww.e​ ns.d​ k/a​ nsvar​ somra​ ader/e​ l/r​ egule​ ring-a​ f-e​ lomra​ adet.
Accessed 28 July 2021
Evans JA, Foster AM, Huet JM, Reinholdt L, Fikiin K, Zilio C, ... Van
Sambeeck TWM (2014) Specific energy consumption values for
various refrigerated food cold stores. Energ Buildings 74:141–151
Fikiin K (2015) Temperature control strategies for smarter energy use
in refrigerated warehouses. New Food 18(4):76–79
Goodman C, Thornburg J, Mohammadi J (2021) Optimization of
refrigeration defrost schedules for demand shifting in commer-
cial buildings. In 2021 IEEE Green Technologies Conference
(GreenTech). IEEE, pp. 201–208
Grein A, Pehnt M (2011) Load management for refrigeration systems:
potentials and barriers. Energy Policy 39(9):5598–5608
Joshi PN, Manoj VS, Maheswaran K (2002) Safety in refrigeration
plants and cold storages. Society of Fisheries Technologists
(India), Cochin
Ketterer JC (2014) The impact of wind power generation on the elec-
tricity price in Germany. Energy Econ 44:270–280
Kiljander J, Sarala R, Rehu J, Pakkala D, Pääkkönen P, Takalo-Mattila
J, Känsälä K (2021) Intelligent consumer flexibility management
with NDKKal network-based planning and control. IEEE Access
9:40755–40767
Kim WR, Aung MM, Chang YS, Makatsoris C (2015) Freshness gauge
based cold storage management: a method for adjusting temperature
and humidity levels for food quality. Food Control 47:510–519
Kohlhepp P, Harb H, Wolisz H, Waczowicz S, Müller D, Hagenmeyer
V (2019) Large-scale grid integration of residential thermal energy
storages as demand-side flexibility resource: a review of international
field studies. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 101:527–547
Lepiksaar K, Mašatin V, Latõšov E, Siirde A, Volkova A (2021)
Improving CHP flexibility by integrating thermal energy storage
and power-to-heat technologies into the energy system. Smart
Energy 2:100022
Lindley D (2010) The energy storage problem. Nature 463(7277):18–20
Ma Z, Billanes JD, Jørgensen BN (2017) Aggregation potentials for
buildings—business models of demand response and virtual
power plants. Energies 10(10):1646
Meneghetti A, Monti L (2015) Greening the food supply chain: an opti-
misation model for sustainable design of refrigerated automated
warehouses. Int J Prod Res 53(21):6567–6587
Michalitsakos P, Mihet-Popa L, Xydis G (2017) A Hybrid RES distrib-
uted generation system for autonomous islands: a DER-CAM and
storage-based economic and optimal dispatch analysis. Sustainability
9(11):2010
Niswander G, Xydis G (2022) Wind microgeneration strategy for meeting
California’s carbon neutral grid goal. Appl Sci 12(4):2187
Nord Pool AS (2021) Nord Pool. https://​www.​nordp​oolgr​oup.​com/
(Assessed: 06-Dec-2021)
Nunes J, Silva PD, Andrade LP, Gaspar PD (2016) Key points on the energy
sustainable development of the food industry–case study of the Por-
tuguese sausages industry. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 57:393–411
Østergaard M (2021) Energy storage. State of Green. https://​state​ofgre​
en.​com/​en/​secto​rs/​smart-​energy-​syste​ms-​balan​ced-​energy-​syste​
ms/​energy-​stora​ge/ (Assessed: 26-Apr-2022)
Pearson A (2008) Refrigeration with ammonia. Int J Refrig
31(4):545–551
Pedersen R, Schwensen J, Biegel B, Green T, Stoustrup J (2016)
Improving demand response potential of a supermarket refrig-
eration system: a food temperature estimation approach. IEEE
Trans Control Syst Technol 25(3):855–863
Pedersen TØ, Bækbo AK, Petersen JV, Larsen MH, Alban L (2017)
Evaluation of the food safety risk associated with de–boning of
Danish sows. Fleischwirtschaft Intern 2:66–70
Rao GB, Parthiban A (2023) Study on cold room enhancements for
commercial applications-Review. Materials Today: Proceedings
80:2505–2512
Rosted S, Rasmussen J (2021) Brug for fintælling: 2020 i uhyre tæt
opløb med 2019 om dansk vindrekord | Energinet. https://​energ​
inet.​dk/​Om-​nyhed​er/​Nyhed​er/​2021/​01/​03/​Brug-​for-​finta​elling-​
2020-i- ​ u hyre- ​ t aet- ​ o ploeb- ​ m ed- ​ 2 019- ​ o m- ​ d ansk- ​ v indr ​ e kord
(Assessed: 26-Apr-2022)
Rybina S (2020) Electric vehicles charging loads in residential areas
of private houses. Master thesis, Aalto University
Van der Sluis S (2008) Cold storage of wind energy–night wind. In
4th International Congress for South-Eastern DKKope ‘Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources’, Sofia, Bulgaria
Wang W, Xiao J, Feng Y, Guo Q, Wang L (2013) Characteristics of
an air source heat pump with novel photoelectric sensors during
periodic frost–defrost cycles. Appl Therm Eng 50(1):177–186
Widmann C, Lödige D, Toradmal A, Thomas B (2017) Enabling CHP
units for electricity production on demand by smart management
of the thermal energy storage. Appl Therm Eng 114:1487–1497
Xydis G (2013) Wind energy to thermal and cold storage—a systems
approach. Energy Build 56:41–47
Yan C, Wang F, Pan Y, Shan K, Kosonen R (2020) A multi-timescale
cold storage system within energy flexible buildings for power
balance management of smart grids. Renew Energy 161:626–634
Zhao Y, Zhang X, Xu X, Zhang S (2020) Research progress of phase
change cold storage materials used in cold chain transportation
and their different cold storage packaging structures. J Mol Liq
319:114360
Publisher's note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
13