Electrified Thermal Solutions announced an agreement with Holcim to deploy its Joule Hive Thermal Battery (JHTB) as part of Holcim’s electrification roadmap.
Cement production is among the hardest industrial processes to electrify. Process temperatures regularly exceed what conventional electric heating can reach, which has left combustion as the default source of heat for the sector.
For Holcim, the agreement extends work already under way to decarbonize its highest-temperature operations. For Electrified Thermal, it adds a third global industrial partner to a customer base built specifically around sectors, including cement, steel and chemicals, where electric alternatives to combustion have not previously existed. Industrial heat accounts for roughly one-fifth of global energy consumption, and the segment of that heat requiring the highest temperatures has remained largely closed to electrification until now.
The initial deployment will consist of two JHTB units that store clean electricity as heat in electrically and thermally conductive bricks, discharging that heat on demand at temperatures up to 1,800°C (3,275°F), a range that has been largely inaccessible to electric alternatives. The agreement extends a relationship between Holcim and Electrified Thermal that includes Holcim’s participation as an investor in the company.
“Electrifying high-temperature industrial heat is one of the advanced technologies we are incorporating in our decarbonization strategy, and this deployment allows us to evaluate its potential,” said Ram Muthu, head of operational excellence at Holcim. “Working with Electrified Thermal gives us a path to accelerate decarbonization as part of our industry-shaping sustainability roadmap.”
“Holcim’s decision to deploy our technology validates years of work to bring electrified heat to high-temperature industrial-scale applications that no other technology or company can achieve,” said Daniel Stack, CEO and co-founder of Electrified Thermal Solutions. “This agreement follows the recent turn-on and successful 1,000-plus hours of operation of our commercial demonstration system and shows that global industrial producers are ready to move this technology from demonstration to deployment. We look forward to expanding this relationship with Holcim over time.”
The agreement builds on momentum from Electrified Thermal’s commercial demonstration system in San Antonio, Texas, which came online earlier this year and represents the company’s first operational megawatt-scale system. Both companies continue to evaluate additional opportunities to apply the technology across Holcim’s operations.
