Why thermal batteries could replace lithium-ion batteries for energy storage

7 comments

1. Thermal batteries could transform renewable energy storage and provide a cheaper and scalable alternative to lithium-ion technology.

   “Intermittent wind and solar power are becoming the cheapest forms of energy that humans have ever known, and all kinds of energy storage is now being used to harness that, to drive transportation, to drive the electricity grid,” said John O’Donnell, the founder and chief innovation officer of Rondo Energy. “Heat batteries are a fundamentally new way of storing energy at a small fraction of the cost.”

   Heat batteries store excess electricity as heat in materials like bricks or graphite, which can reach temperatures over 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The stored heat can then be released when needed, making thermal batteries ideal for powering the manufacturing of steel, cement and chemicals

   Rondo Energy is one of the leaders in this space. The company built its first commercial heat battery in California’s Central Valley at Calgren Renewable Fuels.

   By 2027, Rondo Energy plans to expand production to 90 gigawatt-hours annually, a scale that could cut 12 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. That’s the equivalent of taking 4 million gas cars off the road, according to the company.

   More: [https://cnb.cx/4gmOE3B](https://cnb.cx/4gmOE3B)

2. Not “replace” but “complement”.

   I sometimes wonder how much of China’s lead in renewables is just the number of bullshit headlines the West generates to create drama out of nothing.

   We have several storage options. There are multiple that are better than the status quo. No need to attack one to build up another, especially when they don’t even directly compete.

3. Nice article though it looks a bit like an ad by John O’Donnell, the founder and chief innovation officer of Rondo Energy…

4. Replace în certain use cases, sure. But definitely not REPLACE.
   Central district heating is the prime target

5. Old news, and horribly uneducated at that.

   Thermal storage is nothing new:

   Vattenfall in Berlin/Germany built a thermal hot water storage (heated by low price electricity) in 2022:

   https://www.trendsderzukunft.de/fuer-kalte-winter-vattenfall-baut-in-berlin-den-groessten-waermespeicher-deutschlands/

   Combining thermal storage with power plants (complementary or retrofit), also called ‚Carnot batteries‘, or electro thermal energy storage, ETES, has been demonstrated and marketed for years:

   https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:6f83e987-b0b8-4663-8a19-cd011682f9a0/3-schumacher-benefits-of-energy-transition-for-thermal-power-pla.pdf

   But one thing is clear: No thermal energy storage can compete in any form with li ion batteries! (and vice versa!) b/c application domain is just too different.

6. All the solutions, it’s all good. No one solution solves everything, there’s a place for it all.

7. False dichotomy. Lithium ion cells store energy for use as power. Thermal batteries store energy for use as (process) heat.

   The two are not in competition.

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