States that seasonal cold storage and the combined storage of heat and cold have been identified as technologies that economise on energy consumption for cooling buildings and industrial processes. Discusses one such technique - seasonal thermal energy storage in aquifers. Describes two different generic system configurations with seasonal cold storage for space cooling. In both systems cooling is provided directly (without a chiller) by the seasonal cold storage. In one system a heat pump provides the heating. In the winter, the heat pump extracts heat from the store, thus loading it. In the other system, the store is loaded in the winter by cooling groundwater with cold outdoor air. For both systems gives technical and economic results of detailed design studies and projects in operation. States the results show that aquifer cold storage can be regarded as a cost-effective technology for energy-efficient space cooling.

KEYWORDS: Aquifers, energy storage, cold, Netherlands, case studies, air conditioning, heat pumps