A US Energy Storage Startup Will Decarbonize Beer In Europe

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Despite this year’s abrupt shift in federal energy policy, the decarbonization horses have left the barn. Take the US energy storage startup Rondo Energy, for example. Rondo is taking its renewables-friendly “Heat Battery” system over to Europe, where it will replace gas to supply high heat for a Heineken brewery in Portugal. That’s just for starters. If all goes according to plan, the new system will provide an economical decarbonization model for other industries while also motivating utilities to adopt more renewable energy.

New Energy Storage System, Ancient Technology

Rondo first surfaced on the CleanTechnica radar back in 2023, when it closed a $60 million round of funding to commercialize its Rondo Heat Battery energy storage system. The star-studded, globally oriented list of investors included Rio Tinto, Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, Aramco Ventures, SABIC, SCG, TITAN, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, SDCL SEEIT, and John Doerr, who was an early investor in Google and Amazon.

The cause of all the excitement is Rondo’s new look at the ancient idea of using bricks to store and circulate heat from wood fires and other biomass combustion. Firebricks are still used in industrial operations to this day.

Rondo’s new, 21st century firebricks deploy similar, simple materials along with iron and proprietary additives to boost efficiency. Wiring within the bricks enables them to absorb electricity directly from solar arrays or other renewable resources during off-peak or oversaturated periods when rates are low.

The bricks are containerized to enable heat to build up during the charging part of the process. When needed, blowers transfer the superheated air to its use point (see the CleanTechnica’s Rondo archive here).

In 2023, Rondo also commissioned a 2 megawatt-hour system for a biofuel operation in California, and the company has scaled up rapidly since then. Just a few weeks ago, Rondo commissioned a 100 megawatt-hour heat battery, also in California.

To the disappointment of climate advocates, the new system is deploying solar energy for an enhanced oil recovery operation. On a brighter note, in March of 2024, the leading global beverage firm Diageo tapped Rondo to support its tentative award of up to $75 million from the US Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. The Diageo award was meant to finance the replacement of natural gas with Rondo’s heat battery at two beverage facilities in Kentucky and Illinois.

That’s just for starters. “This project will demonstrate an industrial heat and power model system that could be replicated in many other sectors, as well as food and beverage more broadly,” Diageo enthused.

Europe Wants More Energy Storage

Well, that was then. Plenty of water has passed under the US energy policy bridge since last year. Under the new “American Energy Dominance” policy, 21st century energy storage systems have been dismissed as fantasy, the Energy Department is a shell of its former self, and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations has been all but vaporized.

Nevertheless, as of last month Diageo and Rondo are reportedly still in pursuit of a decarbonization plan for the two Diageo facilities. In the meantime, Europe has already pounced. Last year, the EU-Catalyst partnership raised enough funds to bring the Rondo Heat Battery to Europe.

The follow-through was fast. On Monday, Heineken announced plans to install a 100 megawatt-hour Rondo Heat Battery to provide continuous high-temperature steam for its Central de Cervejas e Bebidas brewery and malting Plant, located near Lisbon in Portugal. The project is supported by the EU-Catalyst funds, raised by Breakthrough Energy Catalyst and the European Investment Bank.

One Project, More To Come

The new battery will mark the first scaled-up use of brick-type thermal energy storage in the European beverage industry. If the project pans out as expected in terms of cost as well as effectiveness, it won’t be the last. Rondo notes that its system is designed as a low-cost, drop-in replacement for conventional boilers and co-gen facilities, helping to manage installation and startup costs.

Heineken already foresees a significant cost advantage. “The project enhances HEINEKEN’s energy resilience by capping energy prices and providing stable input costs in a volatile energy market,” the beermaker observes.

The Portugal-based global energy firm EDP is a third key partner in the project. On EDP’s side, the new heat battery will support the value of its renewable energy facilities during times when the grid is oversaturated with solar energy, which would otherwise force utilities to curtail output or practically give it away.

The new battery will be charged from a 7-megawatt solar array to be located at the Heineken facility, along with grid-sourced renewables. “Charging during the cheapest 6 hours of electricity per day, the heat battery converts this low-cost, intermittent renewable electricity into low-cost, 24-hour heat and steam for industry,” Rondo notes, referring to the system’s ability to deliver heat continuously.

“The system also offers highly flexible demand to the grid that not only soaks up electricity when solar is abundant, it also uses the network outside of peak demand, making better use of the existing electricity network,” the company adds.

The Iberian Advantage

EDP will also deploy its energy service business model to support the new heat battery. Instead of owning the solar array and the energy storage system outright, Heineken will engage EDP to deliver an all-in-one “Heat as a Service” package, including operations and maintenance as well as installation of the solar array and heat battery. “This turnkey package solution — combining heat storage, on-site renewable supply, and grid electricity optimization — allows companies like HEINEKEN to adopt advanced technology without operational complexity,” Rondo notes.

EDP further emphasizes that the brewery will cut its carbon emissions without any change to its production process, since steam produced by the heat battery is identical to fossil-sourced steam.

As for the decision to bring Rondo to Portugal, the Heineken brewery is typical of industrial facilities in Portugal and Spain, many of which have enough space to host substantial solar arrays on site. The Heineken operation, for example, already hosts a 2-megawatt solar power plant.

Meanwhile, Over Here In The US…

Diageo may or may not get that $75 million award to install new energy storage systems at two of its US facilities, but the firm continues to move forward on its sustainability goals as befits its global status, particularly with regards to heat processes and water conservation.

“We have a longstanding commitment to preserving the natural resources on which we all depend and to working together to tackle climate change and water stress,” the company states in a recent sustainability report, in which it reminds everyone that it has established a goal of achieving net zero at its operations by 2030.

For the record, Diageo has already launched a carbon neutral distillery in Lebanon, Kentucky. The project with Rondo, if it is forthcoming, will be located at Diageo’s operations in Shelbyville.

Image (cropped): The US energy storage startup Rondo Energy has mashed the ancient art of firebricks up with 21st century materials science and renewable energy (courtesy of Rondo via email).