EDP, heat battery startup partner on European clean energy projects
A new partnership that relies on hot bricks could help address Europe's energy crisis and cut carbon emissions.
Rondo Energy has developed a “heat battery” that converts renewable energy into the high temperatures that can power industrial processes. The startup has signed a deal with Portugal-based energy company EDP, which has agreed to power up to 2 gigawatts of heat battery installations from Rondo across Europe starting in 2025.
“This is a slingshot moment for us,” Rondo's founder and chief executive John O'Donnell said.
Alameda-based Rondo superheats clay bricks using the same elements found in a toaster. The bricks can reach up to 2,700F and one of them can hold as much energy as a Tesla Model X. Building a system at scale can provide enough heat energy to power a factory or run a steam generator.
The industrial sector is one of the hardest to decarbonize because it's heavily reliant on fossil fuels to generate high heat needed to make things like steel and cement. Heat batteries could help break that bond, and Rondo says its technology can cut industrial emissions by 80% while also providing grid stability by making use of and storing excess renewable power.
The company's batteries can unlock renewable energy's potential by storing energy over time, making an industrial solar project 10 times more powerful, O'Donnell said. Rondo has received backing from Microsoft Corp., Rio Tinto and Aramco, among others. The partnership with EDP will be its biggest deployment — what O'Donnell calls “bringing this new tool in the toolbox to scale.”
EDP will develop decentralized solar and wind parks that will be co-located with a Rondo battery to supply thermal energy to existing customers
Heat batteries could help insulate the manufacturing sector from the crisis sparked by Russia's war in
Ukraine, which has driven up energy costs. The technology can help smooth price volatility and bring predictability to companies' budgets, said Vera Pinto Pereira, an EDP executive board member.
The industrial and energy sectors face an uphill battle to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Together, they account for more than half of all greenhouse gas emissions globally.