The Rapid Growth of the "Heat Battery" Sector, and Highlights from the Global Cleantech100 List.

Rondo is thrilled to be included in the much-hyped Cleantech Group 's 2024 Global Cleantech100 list.

You can read the full report here, but we wanted to pull out a few unique points from the report that really spotlight how far the heat battery sector has come over the last few years.

Beyond Rondo's inclusion in the list, The Rondo Heat Battery and Electric Thermal Energy Storage (ETES) as a category have been validated and are entering the mainstream recently across several notable sources:

• Shayle Kann (Catalyst podcast) and David Roberts (Volts podcast) have both done episodes on industrial heat; in their recent joint episode which covers all kinds of things, they opine that heat batteries are an underhyped solution that can help unlock industrial decarbonization
• Tesla Motors “Master Plan 3” analysis of the decarbonized world shows that the world will require twice as much heat battery capacity as grid batteries (tables 9 and 10, pp 24-25).
• Energy Innovation Policy and Technology LLC 's study finds that electric thermal storage can cut 75% of US industrial gas combustion, at cost parity or cheaper than gas.
• Renewable Thermal Collaborative 's study shows that our type of technology when deployed at scale will eliminate some 6 gigatons CO2 annually, 15% of world energy-related CO2 emissions figures.
• Jesse Jenkins ’ team found this type of load can expand renewable deployment up to 75%, cut curtailment a similar amount, and improve grid resilience and reliability.

In this year's Cleantech100 there were 25,435 nominations from over 65 countries —a 61% increase from the 2023 nomination process. These companies were weighed and scored to create a short list of 330 companies that were reviewed by the 80 members of Cleantech Group’s Expert Panel.

We are thrilled that Rondo was included in the top 100 of over 25,000 nominations globally.

Rondo (and storage) highlighted by Cleantech Group's CEO in his Foreward

CTG's CEO Richard Youngman highlights in the foreword of the report that, while storage and battery companies were included in the original 2009 Cleantech100 list, this 2024 report, the "battery" category has for the first time expanded into thermal storage (e.g. Rondo Energy ) and long duration energy storage.

Trend Watch 2024: Corporate involvement in venture / growth investment trends upward

The report touts a "soft landing" on the right side of the pandemic, where the upward trend of corporates involvement in venture rounds continues since 2018 and years prior -- even taking into account outlier years of 2021 and 2022.

The report highlights the involvement of 微软 's Climate Innovation Fund, and calls out Rondo as one of their five investments that are included in this list.

The coming fight for the factory floor

The report dives into how a major recent shift in clean technology is the shift in focus towards sustainability in heavy industries and commodities production.

It calls out two increasingly ubiquitous themes emerging in manufacturing related cleantech:

1. A fight for ownership over the critical minerals supply chain.
2. Competition to own heat decarbonization pathways or to replace heat in industrial processes altogether.

Of course, Rondo plays a critical role in #2, however it's important to note that for #1, our technology entirely dodges the battle for critical minerals due to the abundance of our storage medium -- low-cost and abundantly available refractory brick.

This section of the report highlights Rondo as a novel approach to thermal energy storage that uses abundant materials, with economic tailwinds that will help nudge new technologies like Rondo's out the door.

Interest in alternative storage technologies remains strong

Rondo is again highlighted as a technology that's moving from pilot to commercial stage and has the potential to be used within a multitude of settings, including industrial load shifting, power generation, as well as heat and steam production.

Overall interest in storage tech is driven by a combination of the proliferation of renewable power, supportive government policies, and volatile wholesale prices (especially in Europe).

Things are heating up at Rondo.

With our investor and production partner Siam Cement Group (SCG) , we’re ramping production capacity to meet demand. Our recent strategic investment round is helping us move faster. Our first small-scale 2MWh commercially operating system is hitting its marks, paving the way for larger systems under development.

Again, we are thrilled to be included in the Cleantech100 list and look forward to the many milestones we have ahead of us in 2024. We hope that you join our journey by following us here on LinkedIn.