NEST AS

NEST is an innovation-driven knowledge company. The company enjoys a strong IP and proprietary position in the field of thermal energy storage (TES) systems. NEST has expertise in the field of materials, energy systems, structural mechanics and engineering, advanced simulation analysis, and is continuously carrying out R&D to provide leading edge energy storage technologies to the market. In collaboration with partner companies NEST will provide complete EPC and turn-key thermal energy storage solutions to clients around the world.

NEST was founded by Pål G. Bergan and Øivind Resch in January of 2011 to develop and commercialize an invention for a cost-effective, smart, modular, scalable Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system. The company has been awarded the patents for its technological innovation, and has further patents pending. The company has built an organization of highly skilled individuals and assembled a board of directors consisting of very experienced leaders. During the past three years NEST has forged strategic partnerships with notable international industry players, research institutions and public funding agencies. In 2014 NEST will build several demonstration pilots to prove the techno-economic performance and demonstrate the advantages of its TES solution in major markets for integration of fluctuating renewable energy. 

NEST seeks to become a ‘game changer’ in the international energy sector by reshaping the energy storage business. The company intends to realize effective and competitive technology for large-scale energy storage and offer energy storage systems on a broad front internationally to facilitate the ongoing market shift towards renewable energy sources and a more sustainable energy future.

Introduction to the energy storage concept

The formidable growth of fluctuating renewable energy has ushered in a new set of challenges for matching power generation to demand in real time. Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are inherently intermittent. For example solar energy is unattainable after sunset and varies according to moving clouds and rain. Similarly, the output from wind turbines is zero at times with no wind and fluctuates according to the turbulent nature of wind gusts. The high targets of renewable energy to be integrated into the grid over the coming years is expected to cause problems with regards to meeting real time demand with supply and balancing a fluctuating electricity generation with load.
See our Nest Brochure
See our Nest Brochure
Development of high capacity transmission grids (super grids), smartgrids and modernizing electricity markets including demand side management may mitigate circumstances, but do not fully solve the problem at hand. Increasingly large scale and long duration energy storage has emerged as a key technology for the appropriation of renewable energy sources. Storage systems that can be incorporated within a renewable power plant enable direct increase of availability, flexibility and dispatchability where renewable power generation is actually taking place. However, current technologies for large-scale and long duration energy storage face real limitations; molten salt is restricted by relatively high cost, economy of scale (only very large plants are cost-effective), and risk of salt solidification. Pumped hydro storage (PHS) and compressed air energy storage (CAES) require special topographical and geological conditions. Battery technologies are expensive for large scale and long duration energy storage and some also depend on rare earth materials. Hydrogen is still imbued with technical challenges in addition to high cost and low efficiency.
NEST (New Energy Storage Technology) AS is a Norwegian technology-company that is realizing an innovative solution for storing thermal energy on a large scale. NEST’s technology is low-cost, scalable, highly efficient, uses readily available materials, and has no geographical limitations.