- Rondo and SCG commissioned a 33 MWh thermal battery that supplies continuous high-pressure steam using a combination of grid and solar power.
- The system, completed in eight months, marks Rondo’s first Southeast Asian project and the world’s only heat battery powering a steam turbine for industrial operations.
Rondo Energy and Siam Cement Group (SCG) have launched Southeast Asia’s first industrial heat battery, a 33 MWh system now operating at SCG’s cement plant in Saraburi, Thailand. The system uses both grid electricity and power from a nearby floating solar farm to charge the thermal storage unit.
Meanwhile, the battery, which powers a steam turbine to generate 2.3 MW of continuous high-pressure steam, provides a renewable alternative to fossil fuel–based heat for cement production. Rondo Energy said it is the only heat battery in the world currently producing steam for electric power generation.
CEO Eric Trusiewicz said the project marks the company’s first unit under its modular sizing strategy, its first deployment in Southeast Asia, and its first global system producing steam for power generation. The battery can reach 1,500°C, exceeding the typical 1,450°C requirement for cement kilns.
Furthermore, Trusiewicz stated that the system was completed in eight months, providing a model for rapid industrial electrification. The Thailand installation follows Rondo’s 100 MWh solar-powered heat battery in California, as well as similar projects in Portugal. The company is also developing long-duration thermal storage projects in Germany and Denmark.