Last month, Finnish start-up Polar Night Energy revealed that it is constructing a huge sand battery efficient in heating up a town of 5,000 individuals for as much as a month. That’s on a single charge.
Polar Night is building the sand battery for the town of Pornainen in southern Finland. The system is anticipated to allow the town cut all oil usage in its district heating network– slashing greenhouse gas emissions by 70%.
Now, Polar Night Energy has actually protected a substantial EUR7.6 mn to scale its thermal energy storage tech. The start-up’s co-founder Markku Ylönen stated he was “delighted” with the raise, especially given that we remain in among history’s greatest declines in VC financing.
“There’s been significant interest in our work, with financiers identifying our capacity,” Ylönen stated.
South African billionaire Jonathan Oppenheimer supplied the bulk of funding. Polar Night will carry the funds into R&D, broadening its group and checking out brand-new websites to develop more sand batteries.
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How does the sand battery work?
The sand battery charges up when renewable resource remains in numerous supply– like on a specific windy or warm day. The tidy electrical energy powers a heating system that sends out hot air through a series of pipelines into a giant, insulated barrel of sand, warming it to a cozy 600 ° C.
This energy can be saved for weeks and even months. When required, the battery releases the hot air as needed– warming water in the district heating network. This can supply heat to families, factories, and even pool.
The brand-new sand battery in Pornainen, which will take 13 months to construct, is anticipated to stand 13 metres high and 15 metres broad. With a power output of 100 MWh, Polar Night approximates the battery will have the ability to heat up the entire town of Pornainen for a week in winter season, or a whole month in summertime, when need is lower.
The brand-new battery will have to do with 10 times larger than a pilot plant the start-up has actually been running considering that 2022.
An option to lithium-ion?
The very best feature of sand batteries is their simpleness. Polar Night states its system can be constructed utilizing basic off-the-shelf elements.
Unlike lithium-ion batteries which count on hard-to-mine minerals, the sand battery utilizes dirt. Particularly, the battery in Pornainen will be filled with crushed soapstone, a by-product of the building and construction market. Polar Night states the batteries deal with any sand-like product that has a high sufficient density.
Another benefit over lithium-ion is that sand batteries can keep energy over weeks and months rather of hours. Plus their storage capability does not break down gradually.
Unlike traditional batteries,