US: Holcim and Electrified Thermal Solutions (ETS), a leader in thermal energy storage and electric heating solutions for heavy industry, have announced an agreement to deploy the latter’s Joule Hive Thermal Battery (JHTB) at cement plants as part of the latter's electrification roadmap. For Holcim, the agreement extends work already underway to decarbonise its highest-temperature operations. For ETS, it adds a third global industrial partner to a customer base built specifically around hard-to-abate industrial sectors, including cement, steel and chemicals.
The initial deployment will consist of two JHTB units that store clean electricity as heat in electrically- and thermally-conductive bricks, discharging that heat on demand at temperatures up to 1800°C, a range largely inaccessible to electric alternatives, according to the developer. The partners did not specify the location of the project.
"Electrifying high-temperature industrial heat is one of the advanced technologies we are incorporating in our decarbonisation strategy, and this deployment allows us to evaluate its potential," said Ram Muthu, Head of Operational Excellence at Holcim. "Working with ETS gives us a path to accelerate decarbonisation as part of our industry-shaping sustainability roadmap."
"Holcim's decision to deploy our technology validates years of work to bring electrified heat to high-temperature industrial-scale applications that no other technology or company can achieve" said Daniel Stack, CEO and co-founder of ETS. "This agreement follows the recent turn-on and successful >1000hr of operation of our commercial demonstration system and shows that global industrial producers are ready to move this technology from demonstration to deployment. We look forward to expanding this relationship with Holcim over time."