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In this study, the development and characterization of composite sorbents based on commercial mesoporous silica gels and LiCl for seasonal thermal energy storage (STES) applications is described. The reported activity aims at validating the operation of sorption STES in various cold climatic zones in Europe. Accordingly, the reference boundary conditions were identified by means of a climatic analysis in two climatic zones, namely, Central and Northern Europe. The acquired mesoporous silica gels were characterized, to evaluate the textural properties, i.e. specific pore volume and pore size, needed to define the optimal salt solution compositions to maximize the amount of salt embedded. The synthesized samples were firstly investigated using scanning electron microscopy and nitrogen physisorption that demonstrate the presence of a small quantity of salt over the external surface rather than inside the pores. A hydrothermal treatment, based on slow adsorption followed by a slow desorption step, was defined to solve this issue. Finally, starting from the measured equilibrium isobars, the expected STES density at material level was evaluated, obtaining values as high as 1080 J/g under cold Northern European climatic condition, corresponding to 650 MJ/m3. • Selective Water Sorbents (SWS) materials based on mesoporous silica gel and LiCl for STES. • Morphological analysis of SWS material. • Optimization of synthesis procedure of SWSs material. • Evaluation of performance of Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage (STES) operating in two different boundary conditions. • STES density equals to 1080 J/g was obtained under cold Northern European climatic condition, corresponding to 650 MJ/m3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]