RedoxBlox, an energy storage solutions provider, has been awarded a total of $25 million in funding to support demonstrations of the company’s thermochemical energy storage (TCES) technology to deliver zero-carbon electricity and heat.
The total funding includes $8.9 million from the California Energy Commission (CEC), $6.7 million from the US Department of Energy (DOE), and $9.4 million in Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures.
San Diego-based RedoxBlox’s technology will help decarbonize two key areas of the economy – industrial heat and renewable energy storage for the grid.
The company’s high-temperature thermochemical battery features energy densities comparable to lithium-ion batteries at a fraction of the cost, enabling the electrification of industrial heat for difficult-to-decarbonize sectors, including cement, steel, food and beverage, refining, and chemicals manufacturing.
The technology will also enable more renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, to come onto the electrical grid through ultra-low-cost energy storage.
“Our goal is simple: use electrification and thermochemical energy storage to compete as a zero-carbon replacement for natural gas,” said Dr. Joerg Petrasch, RedoxBlox Co-Founder and CTO. “We have proven the science. Our focus now is to scale up to commercially relevant sizes.”
The company’s storage module features a vessel filled with an abundantly available, low-cost metal oxide material. To charge, renewable electricity heats the metal oxide pellets up to 1,500°C to trigger a chemical reaction that releases oxygen and stores heat as chemical energy.
When this stored energy is needed, air is directed through the module, and the metal oxide consumes oxygen to reverse the reaction and release heat. Hot air from the module can then deliver heat to an array of industrial processes or to gas turbines to generate electricity – thus serving as a drop-in replacement for natural gas.
In partnership with the University of California, San Diego, and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the CEC selected RedoxBlox to pioneer long-duration energy storage solutions. Hosted by the University of California, the project will utilize the company’s technology to power a turbogenerator and provide up to 24 hours of energy storage capacity.
In addition, the DOE’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office selected RedoxBlox for an industrial-scale TCES, conducted in partnership with Dow and EPRI. This will showcase the decarbonization of industrial steam at the Dow West Virginia plant through electrification using long-duration TCES.
