Antora Energy is a start-up company based in California, who have been producing modular heat batteries for some time. There recent announcement of opening a bigger facility brings multiple benefits and expectations around what this means, development wise, for the battery industry.

The main focus for the company, centres on how the expansion will significantly increase the facilities production capacity and the other focus is how this development will help heavy industries move away from the use of fossil fuels, reduce the amount of heat required for processes and decarbonise.

There is currently a large drive towards decarbonising various industries and a lot of this is directed towards manufacturing cars which use EVs rather than internal combustion engines, or oil furnaces into heat pumps. However, the International Energy Agency have stated that the combustion of fossil fuels, within these large industries, is responsible for most of this issue, with industrial heat making up for 20% of global emissions. This is because in order to combust fossil fuels, the facility must reach temperatures of around 1,000 to 1,500 degrees and this process takes place in multiple industries, including glass, steel, cement and common goods. Therefore, Antora’s new project will benefit themselves, as well as focusing on creating efficient and cleaner solutions, which will provide the necessary heat, without disrupting the company throughout the transition process which will push companies away from using fossil fuels.

Antora’s new heat battery manufacturing system could be the answer the industries are looking for, as whilst companies are using renewable energy sources, e.g., wind and solar power, to heat materials which are quite low-cost, like solid carbon blocks, as Antora uses. These materials are then insulated until the stored heat is able to be discharged for manufacturing processes. Antora’s new facility and plans could solve this heating issue, through providing the industries with heat batteries which are tailored to the company. This will result in a reduced need for excessive heat, as well as a reliance on fossil fuels.

Antora have previously said that the modular heat batteries which are a renewable energy source, can be tailored and be specific for each company. The companies’ aim with this larger facility opening, is that they will be able to assist a wider variety of industries with the transition away from fossil fuels and reducing the amount of heat the company requires, with as little as disruption as possible and while also helping the company decarbonise, through the use of these batteries.