US-based Rondo Vitality will function the world’s largest battery manufacturing facility in Thailand, two and a half occasions the scale of Tesla’s Gigafactory.
From pv journal USA
Rondo Vitality, developer of the Rondo Warmth Battery, introduced that they’ve partnered with Siam Cement Group to broaden their manufacturing facility to 90 GWh capability. The power in Thailand at the moment produces 2.4 GWh of commercial warmth batteries and is deliberate to be expanded into the biggest battery manufacturing facility on the planet.
The corporate backed by Invoice Gates is creating its warmth battery as a solution to decarbonize the commercial sector. Rondo’s battery, referred to as a “brick toaster,” is fabricated from available supplies resembling oxygen, silicon, aluminum, and iron. The battery shops electrical energy as warmth in refractory bricks, a expertise that has been used to retailer warmth in business for hundreds of years.
Warmth batteries convert the stray wind and solar energy into the continual excessive temperature and low warmth required by business. This deliberate manufacturing enlargement is anticipated to assist a variety of industries, from mining and metals to fuels to meals manufacturing, at services world wide.
“Vitality storage in electrical warmth can play a helpful function in responding to the wants of the commercial sector, which is slowly decarbonizing. And, from the angle of vitality safety, it’s price remembering that this expertise avoiding using scarce and costly supplies,” mentioned Pavel Molchanov, vitality analyst at Raymond James.
Batteries retailer and transmit warmth with out utilizing flammables, important minerals, or liquids. With the Rondo Warmth battery, photo voltaic and wind can present steady zero-carbon industrial warmth at a decrease value than fossil fuels, the corporate mentioned.
The batteries can retailer greater than 1 MWh per sq. meter, a excessive stage of density that preserves using area in industrial services. Rondo mentioned the batteries could be built-in into present course of heating gear, permitting for important reductions in emissions with out requiring manufacturing facility repairs. The batteries are anticipated to function for 40 years or extra with out efficiency degradation.
Heavy industrial processes have confirmed to be one of the crucial tough sectors to decarbonize and account for about 24% of world emissions, in keeping with Our Information World. The 90 GWh of deliberate capability is anticipated to end in 12 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions abatement per 12 months, equal to eradicating greater than 4 million gas-powered automobiles from the street annually.
Rondo mentioned its batteries supply steady energy with 95% annual capability whereas working at enter energy beneath 15% capability issue, or 4 hours of dispatchable energy technology per day.
“Our research at buyer services have proven 50% to 90% reductions in emissions and reductions in working prices of 30% or extra,” mentioned Jeremey Keller, senior vp of Rondo Vitality.
In early 2022, Rondo Vitality introduced the closing of a $22 million Collection A funding spherical to assist its expertise, a renewable vitality warmth battery geared toward lowering the carbon affect of commercial processes. The funding spherical was led by Breakthrough Vitality Ventures and Vitality Affect Companions.
“Over the previous few years we have seen the validation of our imaginative and prescient to construct,” mentioned John O’Donnell, chief govt officer, Rondo Vitality. “Industrial warmth decarbonization is a trillion-dollar market that requires extra storage than the electrical grid. The expertise is right here now. The demand is right here now. This deliberate enlargement means the capability can be right here now. .”
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