Thermal Energy Storage To Beat Natural Gas In US Northeast [Video]

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Thermal energy storage has begun to emerge as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries, and it is going to be put to the test in the northeast US. The Israeli startup Brenmiller has just hammered out an agreement with the New York firm Rock Energy Storage, aimed at deploying its “bGen” thermal battery to push natural gas out of the industrial energy market across Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New York.

Thermal Energy Storage: Buh-By Natural Gas

From a decarbonization perspective, thermal energy storage sounds pretty simple on paper. The basic idea behind bGen, for example, is to use electricity to heat crushed rocks to 650 degrees centigrade, when extra wind or solar energy (or both) is available. The system provides steam, hot water, or hot air on demand for industrial processes, eliminating the fossil-fueled boilers typically commonly in use.

If …