Three Rondo Heat Battery installations will decarbonize food, clean fuel, and chemical production across Europe
LONDON, June 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today at the Breakthrough Energy Summit, Rondo Energy, Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, the European Commission, and the European Investment Bank announced €75 million in funding that will support three groundbreaking industrial decarbonization projects in Europe.
Rondo will use the funding (subject to the satisfaction of funding conditions) to expand its European presence and build projects delivering low-cost clean energy under long-term contracts. Each project has been optimized to capture low-cost intermittent energy from local and remote wind and solar resources, to deliver “drop-in decarbonization” for producers of food and beverage, clean fuel, and chemical production. The facilities will deliver low-cost, continuous, high-pressure, zero-carbon steam and power as a service.
“This project funding is a strong addition to our long-term relationship with Breakthrough, and puts Rondo firmly on the path to help eliminate the green premium for industrial heat electrification and to become a fully bankable technology which can be deployed at scale,” said Eric Trusiewicz, CEO of Rondo Energy. “The grant from Breakthrough Energy Catalyst and the loan from the European Investment Bank together underpin Rondo’s development throughout Europe, where we see very strong tailwinds to the adoption of our technology.”
Rondo Heat Batteries (RHBs) combine century-old materials and cutting-edge automation to turn intermittent renewable electricity into the continuous, high-temperature heat and power required by industries.
“Rondo’s technology offers industry a unique opportunity to decarbonize with inexpensive renewable electricity,” said Mario Fernandez, Head of Breakthrough Energy Catalyst. “Rondo’s deployment is crucial at a time when European manufacturers are urgently looking for ways to eliminate their dependence on natural gas. We’re proud to support these important projects across Europe and to work with such great partners in Rondo, the European Investment Bank, and the European Commission who bring the commitment and vision to commercialize this critical technology.”
“The green transition requires massive investment for innovative technologies to replace industrial processes based on fossil fuels,” said EIB Vice-President Thomas Östros. “With today’s announcement, we are writing the next chapter of the EU-Catalyst partnership. We are delighted to support Rondo’s first-of-a-kind energy storage units. As the climate bank, we aim to finance many more net-zero technologies that will provide clean and affordable energy to power our industry and homes, while strengthening Europe’s competitiveness.”
Drop-In Decarbonization for Covestro’s Chemical Production
Covestro, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-quality polymer materials and their components, has selected Rondo to deliver clean energy services at a production facility in Northern Germany. An RHB100 will be delivering continuous steam powered by intermittent renewable energy, contributing to Covestro’s deep commitment to circularity and decarbonization.
“As an innovation company, we are always excited when we can further develop and test promising ideas that can bring us closer to our goals of a circular economy and climate-neutral production,” says Dr. Thorsten Dreier, CTO of Covestro. “The heat battery is such an idea: a new technology that allows us to go one step further on our way to a sustainable future.”
Heat battery replaces fossil fuels in GreenLab’s green industrial park
GreenLab is a pioneer green and circular industrial park in Denmark, that works to demonstrate how energy waste can be reduced in industry. Rondo will build a “clean utilities core” supplying the companies in GreenLab with green heat. An RHB100 powered by renewables will generate high pressure steam to drive a CHP steam turbine generator cycle, translating intermittent electricity into baseload heat and power for multiple companies at the park.
One of the first companies in the park to benefit from Rondo’s heat battery will be using the green heat to produce low-carbon biogas, eliminating the use of fossil fuels in the process. This first installation will establish the performance, processes, and tools needed to expand the clean utilities core at GreenLab and to build other parks like this one powered by the wind and the sun.
GreenLab CEO Christopher Sorensen explains: “Industry accounts for approximately 25% of energy-related carbon pollution globally, and 74% of industrial energy use is tied to heat. At GreenLab, we work to reduce industrial energy waste and CO2-emissions by demonstrating new green technologies at scale. That is why Rondo’s heat battery is a perfect match for our industrial park. On a global level, powering industrial heat with renewables and heat batteries can cut CO2-emissions drastically, and we are happy to pioneer the solution in our park in this first-of-its-kind fully commercial project.”
Decarbonizing Food & Beverage Production
Rondo will also build a third project that charges from on-site and off-site solar, delivering deep decarbonization for a European producer in the food and beverage sector, with further details to be announced soon.
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst Creating New Energy Infrastructure
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst is bringing its expertise in energy-infrastructure-investing and project-development to accelerate the widespread deployment of emerging climate technologies that can cut emissions without a green premium.
The deployment and learnings from its FOAK projects in Europe will enable Rondo to develop storage-as-a-service contracts that make clean industrial heat and power cheaper than traditional fuels. These initial projects set the stage to accelerate Rondo’s delivery on its large pipeline of global projects which will reduce industrial reliance on gas and build sustainable, cost-effective energy solutions across the world.
Strengthening Europe’s Energy Security
Rondo is a member of the Energy Resiliency Leadership Group, which is working to open markets and speed the transition to a clean energy infrastructure for Europe.
Each of these projects is an energy services project that delivers long-term low-cost clean energy for an industrial producer, reducing reliance on imported fossil fuel, cutting regulatory risk, and improving their position as manufacturing leaders in the 21st century.
“This funding is an example of what energy security looks like,” said John O’Donnell, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Rondo Energy. “These projects bring together Rondo’s innovative technology with Catalyst and EIB’s innovative finance to power industry with the wind and the sun on a permanently lower-cost basis.”
“Europe urgently needs to replace imported gas with domestic renewable energy,” said Ann Mettler, VP of Breakthrough Energy Europe and co-leader of the Energy Resilience Leadership Group. “Repowering our industries is a matter of climate security, economic security, and national security. These projects are proving that we can deliver this triple win now, with the right technology, vision, and capital.”
About Rondo Energy
Rondo is purpose-built for industrial facilities: Its Heat Batteries are constructed from proven, durable materials and are designed for seamless integration with existing industrial equipment and processes. Whether deployed as a drop-in replacement for retiring fossil-fueled heating equipment or as a resilient complement to existing systems, Rondo requires no disruptive changes to customers’ operations.
Rondo currently operates the world’s highest temperature, highest efficiency commercial energy storage system, at Calgren Renewable Fuels in Pixley, California. Working with its partner Siam Cement Group (SCG), Rondo is expanding the production capacity of its storage media from its current 2 GWh/yr to an industry-leading 90 GWh per year. Rondo Energy is headquartered in Alameda, California.
About Breakthrough Energy
Breakthrough Energy is a global network of climate leaders committed to accelerating the world’s journey to a clean energy future. The organization funds breakthrough technologies, advocates for climate-smart policies, and mobilizes partners around the world to take effective action, accelerating progress at every stage.
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst is a novel platform that funds and invests in first-of-a-kind commercial projects for emerging climate technologies. By investing in these opportunities, Catalyst seeks to accelerate the adoption of these technologies worldwide and reduce their costs.
The EU-Catalyst partnership was launched in 2021 at COP26 in Glasgow with the aim to develop large-scale green tech projects based in Europe and boost investments in critical climate technologies.
Catalyst currently focuses on five technology areas: clean hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuel, direct air capture, long-duration energy storage, and manufacturing decarbonization. In addition to capital, Catalyst leverages the team’s energy-infrastructure-investing and project-development expertise to work with innovators on advancing their projects from the development stage to funding, construction and ultimately, operations. Learn more about Breakthrough Energy and Catalyst at breakthroughenergy.org.
About the EIB
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union. It finances sound investment contributing to EU policy goals. As implementing partner of the Commission under InvestEU, the EIB has been tasked to deploy up to €420 million for the benefit of the EU-Catalyst partnership. These funds are made available from both Horizon Europe, which has committed €200 million, and the Innovation Fund, which has committed €220 million. The EU-Catalyst partnership does not exclude potential additional contributions from EU Member States or other private partners that decide to further support the projects.
About Covestro:
Covestro is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-quality polymer materials and their components. With its innovative products, processes and methods, the company helps enhance sustainability and the quality of life in many areas. Covestro supplies customers around the world in key industries such as mobility, building and living, as well as the electrical and electronics sector. In addition, polymers from Covestro are also used in sectors such as sports and leisure, telecommunications and health, as well as in the chemical industry itself.
The company is geared completely to the circular economy. In addition, Covestro aims to achieve climate neutrality for its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2035, and the Group’s Scope 3 emissions are also set to be climate neutral by 2050. Covestro generated sales of EUR 14.4 billion in fiscal year 2023. At the end of 2023, the company had 48 production sites worldwide and employed approximately 17,500 people (calculated as full-time equivalents).
About GreenLab:
GreenLab is a green and circular industrial park. It was established in 2019 to test, demonstrate, and accelerate the green transition by improving the way renewable energy is produced, converted, stored, and utilized. GreenLab shows the way for breaking down energy silos and integrating energy systems. In practice, this is done through GreenLab’s SymbiosisNet™. GreenLab has created the ideal conditions for connecting industrial production with a new and innovative energy infrastructure, research, and large-scale testing of new technologies.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/greenlabskive
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