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“Bricks” in this climate-tech story are high-temperature thermal batteries for factories, not ordinary masonry. They use electricity to heat insulated refractory or carbon-based blocks, then deliver that stored energy as industrial heat when it is needed. The idea is moving beyond pilots: by August 2026, several large systems had been announced as operating or commissioned. Their strongest case is storing electricity for customers who need heat directly—not replacing every battery, boiler or fossil-fuel process.
Why store electricity as heat?
Factories need heat for steam, hot air, drying, furnaces and chemical processes. Many run for long hours or continuously, while solar and wind output varies. Existing plants are often built around gas-fired boilers and furnaces, and changing the heat source without disrupting production can involve substantial engineering and capital work.
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Some industrial heat is also too hot for conventional heat pumps to supply economically. The challenge is therefore not just generating clean electricity: it is delivering the right temperature, at the right rate, at the point in a plant where heat is used.
Heavy industry is a major emissions source, but headline percentages depend on what sectors and emissions are counted. The original MIT Technology Review framing described heavy industry as responsible for roughly one-quarter of global emissions. Electrified Thermal Solutions separately cites industrial heat at approximately one-quarter of global CO₂ emissions and about one-fifth of global energy consumption. Those are not interchangeable measures, so they should be read with their respective definitions.
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How a thermal battery works
Think of a giant insulated toaster connected to a factory’s boiler or furnace. The underlying storage is usually sensible heat: energy held by raising the temperature of a solid, rather than by storing electrical charge through battery chemistry.
- Charge: Electricity runs through resistance heaters, or through electrically conductive storage blocks, and becomes heat.
- Store: The heat is held in a heavily insulated vessel containing refractory bricks or another high-temperature material.
- Discharge: Air, steam, carbon dioxide or another heat-transfer medium passes through channels or heat exchangers, absorbs heat and carries it to an industrial process.
Depending on the design and site, the output can supply steam, hot air or process gas to equipment such as boilers, kilns, dryers and furnaces. “Brick” is a useful shorthand, not a single standard technology. A recent review of thermal energy storage discusses the broader category and its different pathways.
Three different approaches—not one kind of brick
- Rondo Energy: Uses electrically heated stacks of refractory bricks. Its systems emphasize direct delivery of industrial heat, including steam and hot air, and are designed to integrate with plant equipment.
- Electrified Thermal Solutions: Uses electrically conductive oxide-based “E-Bricks.” The company describes the bricks as both heating element and thermal-storage medium, with hot-gas delivery for high-temperature uses.
- Antora Energy: Uses carbon-based thermal storage blocks. Its systems can supply industrial heat and, in some configurations, electricity through thermophotovoltaic conversion.
These architectures have different storage materials, heat-transfer arrangements and output options. They should not be ranked using a single efficiency or temperature number unless the measurement boundaries and operating conditions match.
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Why use bricks or other solid materials?
Refractory materials are designed to tolerate high temperatures. Solid media can also be relatively inexpensive and widely available compared with the materials used in some electrochemical batteries. A thermal system can rely on familiar industrial components—insulation, ducts, fans, heaters, heat exchangers and steel enclosures—and it does not depend on lithium-ion storage chemistry.
Those are design advantages, not proof that every complete system has a simple supply chain, low cost or long demonstrated lifetime. Electrified Thermal says its E-Bricks are designed for high-temperature service and projects a 20–30-year lifespan; that is a company projection, not a lifespan demonstrated across a mature operating fleet. Likewise, claims about scarce minerals generally refer to the storage medium, not necessarily every component in the installation.
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Temperature, capacity and efficiency: compare like with like
Vendors cite high temperatures, but storage temperature, maximum brick temperature, delivered hot-gas temperature and the customer’s process temperature are different measurements. A system can store heat at a higher temperature than it can deliver continuously at a particular flow rate.
- Rondo describes storage above 1,000°C; earlier technology material discussed brick temperatures up to about 1,500°C and hot-air output up to about 1,000°C.
- Electrified Thermal reports storage temperatures up to 1,800°C and adjustable hot-gas delivery up to 1,500°C, with higher-temperature output claimed for some uses.
- Antora targets both industrial heat and power, with its Project Big Stone described as multi-day storage.
Duration depends on system size, charging conditions and the customer’s load. Electrified Thermal describes daily charging windows of roughly four to ten hours. Antora describes Project Big Stone as a multi-day, 5 GWh system. A stated number of storage hours should not be mistaken for the number of hours the system can supply electricity: these are often heat-capacity figures, and the output mode matters.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallEfficiency claims also need a clear boundary. Ask whether a figure describes electricity converted to useful heat, heat delivered relative to electricity used, or electricity recovered after converting heat back to power. Rondo reports more than 97% round-trip efficiency for its heat-storage configuration; Electrified Thermal reports greater than 98%. These are vendor-reported figures, and may not include the same transformers, fans, ducts, heat exchangers or customer-side losses.
Direct heat delivery is the key distinction. A factory that uses stored heat avoids another conversion step. Turning heat back into electricity is a different proposition with its own conversion losses and equipment. Heat-to-heat efficiency should not be presented as evidence that a thermal battery competes with a lithium-ion battery for electricity storage.
What changed in 2025 and 2026?
As of the research cutoff of August 16, 2026, the field had moved into an early commercial-deployment phase. The milestones below are company or partner announcements; “commissioned” or “operating” does not by itself mean independently verified performance across a fleet.
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- October 16, 2025 — California: Rondo announced commercial operation of a 100 MWh industrial heat battery. The company says it supplies continuous high-pressure industrial heat and steam using on-site solar, and reports round-trip efficiency above 97% for its heat-storage configuration. See Rondo’s announcement.
- November 13, 2025 — Thailand: Rondo and SCG announced operation of a 33 MWh system at a cement plant, delivering 2.3 MWth of continuous steam. Rondo says its modular platform ranges from 33 MWh to more than 1 GWh. See the project announcement.
- January 19, 2026 — Germany: Rondo and Covestro broke ground on a heat battery at Covestro’s Brunsbüttel site. Commissioning was planned for the end of 2026, so it was a project under construction—not an operating installation at the cutoff. See the announcement.
- January–February 2026 — San Antonio: Electrified Thermal Solutions said it commissioned a 20 MWh commercial-scale Joule Hive system at Southwest Research Institute. The company reports peak storage temperatures up to 1,800°C and hot-gas output adjustable up to 1,500°C. See its commissioning announcement.
- March 25, 2026 — manufacturing: Electrified Thermal announced a Boston-area headquarters and E-Brick production facility. The company says the facility can support more than 500 MWh of Joule Hive deployments annually. That is a stated manufacturing capacity, not evidence that this volume has been installed.
- April 2, 2026 — manufacturing: Antora announced two additional U.S. facilities and said the expansion adds multi-GWh manufacturing capacity. This is an announced capacity expansion, not a measure of completed customer deployments.
- May 19, 2026 — South Dakota: Antora and POET announced commissioning of Project Big Stone, described as a 5 GWh multi-day thermal-storage project with more than 200 thermal batteries at a bioprocessing facility. Antora said it would be fully operational later in 2026; commissioning and full operation are distinct milestones. See Antora’s project account.
Taken together, the projects show serious movement from early demonstrations toward industrial infrastructure. They do not yet prove that the technology is broadly cheaper than fossil heat, that every announced unit is operating at full capacity, or that performance claims have been independently confirmed across multiple customers.
Where the technology can fit
Thermal storage is most promising where a plant has a large, steady heat load and can use the system’s delivered steam, hot air or process gas without redesigning the entire production line. Potential applications include food and beverage processing, biofuels and ethanol, chemicals, cement and lime, mining and metals, steel and glass, industrial drying, and some district or campus heat systems. Antora also targets data-center loads, where heat-to-power configurations may be relevant.
A useful first-pass screen for a site is:
- Heat match: What temperature, steam pressure, gas quality and flow does the process need? Is demand steady or batch-based?
- Power match: Can the site charge during affordable hours, use curtailed or contracted renewable power, and obtain the required grid connection? Check hourly tariffs and demand charges, not just average electricity price.
- Storage match: How many MWh of thermal capacity and MWth of delivery are needed? How many charging cycles are realistic, and how long must the system cover the load?
- Plant integration: Is there room for the insulated installation? What ducting, steam equipment, heat exchangers, fans, transformers, controls and construction downtime will be required?
- Reliability: Can the process pause if the store is depleted, or must a boiler, grid connection or backup heater remain available?
- Financial case: Compare capital, electricity, fuel, maintenance and backup costs, plus any demand-charge savings, incentives or carbon costs. The outcome depends on utilization and the local price spread between electricity and displaced fuel.
Rondo says its systems are designed for integration with existing industrial equipment, but the connection is still site-specific. Public list prices were not provided in the reviewed company materials; projects are sales-led and require site engineering.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where the case is weaker—or needs more proof
Cheap electricity is not automatic. A thermal battery does not create energy. It shifts heat delivery in time, and its economics depend on whether the site can actually charge at low-cost hours. A project with expensive electricity, high demand charges, weak grid capacity or few operating cycles may not pencil out, even if its heat-storage efficiency is high.
“Zero-carbon” depends on the boundary. The system may eliminate on-site combustion while shifting emissions to the grid. Its climate benefit depends on the charging mix, displaced fuel, operating schedule, backup equipment, manufacturing and construction. A serious project assessment needs the local grid emissions factor and the actual fuel displaced—not just a label.
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Continuous production may require redundancy. A factory cannot necessarily wait for the battery to recharge. Backup boilers, grid supply or multiple modules can protect output, but retaining and using combustion equipment can weaken the emissions and financial case.
Some processes are not simple heat swaps. Different furnaces need different temperatures, gas compositions and heat-transfer patterns. A high-temperature block does not guarantee a drop-in replacement for a flame or a particular process atmosphere. Sites with limited electrical service or substantial retrofit requirements may be poor candidates.
Cement and steel still have distinct emissions challenges. Cement heat batteries could reduce fuel emissions, but cement also releases CO₂ when limestone is converted to clinker; thermal storage alone cannot eliminate that process emission. Steel pathways also vary: primary steelmaking, direct reduction, electric-arc furnaces, reheating and finishing do not have identical heat or gas needs. “Bricks decarbonize cement and steel” is too broad without specifying the process step.
How to compare it with alternatives
The right comparison depends on whether the customer needs heat, electricity, or both.
- Lithium-ion batteries: A more established option for shifting electricity and providing fast response. They are not direct high-temperature heat stores; using one for process heat adds an electric heating step.
- Electric boilers and resistance heaters without storage: Simpler where electricity is plentiful, affordable and reliably available. Storage matters more when prices fluctuate or supply and production schedules do not line up.
- High-temperature heat pumps: Potentially attractive for low- and medium-temperature heat, but not a universal answer for the hottest industrial applications.
- Molten-salt storage: Can suit some temperature ranges and designs, with trade-offs that can include corrosion, pumps, heat exchangers and freezing risk.
- Hydrogen: May be useful where a combustible gas or chemical reducing agent is needed, but making and using it for heat can add conversion losses, storage and infrastructure needs.
- Biomass, biogas and renewable natural gas: Can work with combustion equipment, but fuel availability, sustainability, air pollution and land use matter.
- Waste-heat recovery: Often worth checking first. Cutting the heat demand can complement a thermal battery and reduce the size of any new generation or storage system.
For a construction or industrial-project team, the practical lesson is to treat a thermal battery as a process-integration package, not just a box of bricks. The design has to coordinate foundations and space, high-voltage service, thermal connections, fire and worker safety, controls, permits, commissioning and backup. A useful feasibility study starts with measured load and temperature data, then models hourly electricity costs and the displaced fuel before selecting storage capacity or a vendor.
The “hottest” framing is a headline, not a measurable market ranking. The more useful conclusion is narrower: high-temperature thermal storage is becoming a real option for some industrial heat loads, and several vendors report large deployments. Its strongest proposition is storing electricity as heat and delivering it directly to a factory. Whether it is a good project depends on the process interface, electricity economics, utilization, grid access and the emissions it actually displaces.
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