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Season's Thermochemical Heat Storage: Long-term Renewable Energy Solution

5 min read

Season’s Thermochemical Heat Storage: Long-term Renewable Energy Solution

Generated: 2026-07-16 · API: Gemini 2.5 Flash · Modes: Summary

Season’s Thermochemical Heat Storage: Long-term Renewable Energy Solution

Clip title: New Heat Storage: Better Than a Heat Pump? Author / channel: German Science Guy URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SvFI9z4Al8

Summary

The video introduces an innovative long-term energy storage solution developed by the Swiss company Season, aiming to store surplus renewable energy for months with minimal loss. The core of this technology is a thermochemical absorption heat storage system that utilizes a conventional caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) solution and water. The primary goal is to address the mismatch between solar energy production (abundant in summer) and heating demand (highest in winter), offering a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels and traditional battery storage.

The system operates using a reversible thermochemical process. In the summer, excess energy from sources like solar panels or waste heat is used to evaporate water from the caustic soda solution, concentrating it in one tank (an endothermic reaction). The separated water is stored in a second tank. Come winter, this process is reversed: the stored water is fed into an evaporator, and its vapor is absorbed by the highly concentrated caustic soda solution (an exothermic reaction). This absorption releases significant heat, which can then be transferred to a building’s heating system. Key advantages include using widely available materials, being non-flammable and non-explosive (unlike hydrogen), and providing high flow temperatures suitable even for poorly insulated older buildings, all while consuming minimal electricity during heat release, thus supporting grid stability.

Season is already implementing this technology in several pilot projects, including a 36-apartment building in Bochum, Germany, where the system will utilize energy from a photovoltaic array and the electricity spot market. Regarding safety, while caustic soda is corrosive (with a pH of up to 14), the company states it is stored in robust double-walled tanks or tanks with spill containment, mitigating environmental risks. Maintenance is designed to be straightforward, and crucially, the chemical potential of the caustic soda solution does not deplete over time, allowing for indefinite use.

Despite its potential, the technology faces several significant hurdles. One major challenge is the substantial space requirement: a typical single-family home requiring 100% heat from this system would need approximately 48,000 liters of caustic soda solution, far exceeding the capacity of conventional oil tanks and limiting its application to larger buildings or industrial processes. The initial investment costs are also high, with an estimated payback period of 15-25 years, and claims of cost-effectiveness compared to other storage methods are yet to be independently verified. Furthermore, the technology is not yet market-ready, and current energy market structures often fail to financially incentivize long-term seasonal storage, favoring short-term charge/discharge cycles based on price fluctuations. However, the system offers a promising non-electrical solution for grid stabilization during peak heating periods without relying on rare earth elements.

Video Description & Links

Description

Here’s the link to Mammouth AI if you’d like to try it out for yourself: https://mammouth.ai

Storing energy efficiently—not just for hours or days, but for months—THAT is the promise of a new system from Switzerland. All of this with almost no energy loss and using conventional caustic soda. In this video we will clarify how it works, what potential this thermochemical storage system has, and how it’s being used in an initial pilot project in an older building in Germany.

Chapter: 00:00 Introduction 00:34 Problem of the Energy Transition 02:44 How the SEASON System Works 05:09 Advantages 06:26 Pilotproject Germany 09:12 Big HURDLE 12:06 Conclusion

Sources: Source 1: https://www.seasonenergy.ch/ Source 2: https://www.bundestag.de/resource/blob/930740/0a31b71a40c1f0c6048f156685765eca/WD-5%E2%80%93148%E2%80%9322-pdf-data.pdf Source 3: https://buefa-chemicals.de/blog/produkte-im-fokus-natronlauge
Source 3a:
https://share.google/Tl8gJv3zbHO6Ctgll Source 4: https://solar.htw-berlin.de/wp-content/uploads/HTW-Repraesentative-elektrische-Lastprofile-fuer-Wohngebaeude.pdf Source 5: https://www.vaillant.de/ratgeber/technologie-verstehen/waermepumpe/stromverbrauch/ Source 6: https://www.50hertz.com/de/Netz/Systemfuehrung/Systembilanzierung Source 7: https://www.bdew.de/energie/systemstabilitaetsverordnung/502-hertz-problem/ Source 8: https://www.solarwirtschaft.de/datawall/uploads/2025/10/BSW-Solar_Faktenblatt_Stromspeicher.pdf Source 9: https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/DE/Fachthemen/ElektrizitaetundGas/ErneuerbareEnergien/EEG_Foerderung/start.html Source 10: https://www.bdew.de/service/daten-und-grafiken/bdew-strompreisanalyse/ Source 11: https://www.verivox.de/elektromobilitaet/themen/elektroauto-batterie/#:~:text=The%20range%20of%20currently%20available%20electric%20cars%20is%20between%20400%20and%20600%20kilometers Source 12: https://www.unendlich-viel-energie.de/mediathek/grafiken/durch-abregelung-verlorene-stromerzeugung Source 13: https://www.bosch-homecomfort.com/de/de/wohngebaeude/wissen/heizungsratgeber/waermepumpe/waermepumpe-funktion/ Source 14:
access via: https://leoninestudios.sharepoint.com/sites/L9P-IU-Digital-BreakingLab/Freigegebene%20Dokumente/Forms/AllItems.aspx?id=%2Fsites%2FL9P%2DIU%2DDigital%2DBreakingLab%2FFreigegebene%20Dokumente%2FRedaktion%2F03%5FSkripte%2FStudien%2BGrafiken%2F2026%2FSeasonEnergy%2Fpraesentation%2Dseason%2Dhslu%2Epdf&parent=%2Fsites%2FL9P%2DIU%2DDigital%2DBreakingLab%2FFreigegebene%20Dokumente%2FRedaktion%2F03%5FSkripte%2FStudien%2BGrafiken%2F2026%2FSeasonEnergy Source 15: https://hub.hslu.ch/ta-blog/season/ Source 16: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E4SXKI61_c Source 17: https://www.spektrum.de/lexikon/chemie/exotherme-reaktion/3183 Source 18: https://www.chemie.de/lexikon/Exotherme_Reaktion.html Source 19: https://www2.chemie.uni-erlangen.de/projects/vsc/chemie-mediziner-neu/saeuren/beispiele.html Source 20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxFK9rRKg7g Source 21: https://www.chemie.de/lexikon/natriumhydroxid.html Source 22: https://www.chemie.de/lexikon/Endotherme_Reaktion.html Source 23: https://www.spektrum.de/lexikon/chemie/endotherme-reaktion/2924 Source 24: https://gestis.dguv.de/data?name=001270 Source 25: https://www.heizung.de/oelheizung/wissen/heizoeltank-alle-informationen-im-ueberblick.html Source 26: https://www.studysmarter.de/studium/ingenieurwissenschaften/umwelttechnik/thermochemische-prozesse/
Source 27: https://share.google/GvmhUr8xulUE9GY9C
Source 29: https://www.enpal.de/waermepumpe/leistung
Source 30: https://www.heizspiegel.de/fileadmin/hs/heizspiegel-2024/Heizspiegel_Tabelle_2025.pdf

This video was produced by my editorial Team. Editorial staff: Marty Krauße-Wiegand, Tabea Desch, Jacob Beautemps; Editing: Romy Gruetter, Aron Kamenz, Sören Rensch, Sebastian Schubert

New science and technology videos every week! We show innovations that make our world better and point the way to our future. The videos are made in Germany, but the topics are from all over the world. Did you like the video? Click “Like” and subscribe! Your feedback motivates me to make new videos. Thank you :-)

Tags

Science, Tech, Technologies, Technology, Innovation, German Science Guy, Science Around The World, energy storage, heat storage, thermal storage, seasonal storage, thermochemical storage, sodium hydroxide, caustic soda, heat pump, solar energy, waste heat, renewable energy, heating, winter heating, grid stability, energy transition, thermochemical energy storage, decarbonization, pilot project, Switzerland, SeasON, long duration storage, renewable heating technology

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