EnergyNest has developed a breakthrough Thermal Battery solution that enables a step-change in improved efficiency, flexibility, and environmental performance for the power and industrial manufacturing sectors. By storing energy in the form of heat rather than electricity our technology unlocks a vast new market that has so far been largely overlooked. Energy-intensive industries and several types of thermal power plants emit large quantities of high-temperature heat. Recovered, stored and discharged upon demand high-grade heat can be used to produce high-value energy in the form of electricity, process steam/heat, district heating and even cooling which would otherwise have to be produced from fuel combustion, hence reducing fuel consumption and GHG emissions. The potential cumulative CO2 savings for these sectors is greater than 500 million tons between 2020-2040. Our solution offer strong business cases with IRRs in the range of 20–40% in a market estimated to be greater than 7 billion € per year in Europe. The objective of this project is to demonstrate the EnergyNest Thermal Battery system at a plant where waste-heat from a kiln will be recovered, stored and used to supply steam, thus reducing fuel consumption within the plant. The demonstration will familiarize our future customers to the Thermal Battery, establishing trust in its performance, benefits and our capabilities. The Thermal Battery innovation relies on a patented system design using an unique concrete-like storage medium. The project will activate an European supply chain, with steel fabrication in The Czech Republic/Romania, concrete fabrication in Germany, prefabrication of Thermal Battery Modules in the Netherlands, and local engineering services in Norway and Spain. EnergyNest was founded in 2011 by prof. Pål Bergan, a renowned structural mechanics expert formerly professor at NTNU and Senior Vice President at DNV GL.

The objective of the innovation project is to demonstrate our low-cost and efficient thermal energy storage technology, and introduce the technology to the market. Similar to how electric energy is stored in a battery, inside an EnergyNest storage, thermal energy is stored in a state-of-the-art concrete-like storage medium which is named HEATCRETE® at temperatures of 425 °C or more. In the project, the goal is to demonstrate storing energy from waste heat/power from industrial applications, surplus or curtailed wind energy, and to return the energy as either heat (process steam), electricity or a combination of both (combined heat and power – CHP). The feasibility study (phase 1) is aiming to get an agreement established with at least one commercial partner to build a first demonstrator. Our technology is unique as it is purely based on commodity materials, has a lifetime of over 50 years and can be built anywhere. Most of the components can be sourced locally which reduces the CO2 emissions due to transport. The used materials are non-hazardous and recyclable (steel, concrete and insulation material). Our solution helps to make renewable power generation economically more attractive by better utilizing wind assets through avoiding to waste or curtail energy. This will help to promote growth of renewable energy and to reduce base-load capacity provided by conventional power plants. Our approach is to store and reuse waste heat to produce electricity, process steam or district heating when the demand is not matching the supply.