Thermal Batteries: Electrifying Heating in Chemical Plants

This guide by RMI outlines the application of thermal batteries to decarbonize heating in the United States chemical and petroleum refining sectors, which contribute 5% to 6% of US greenhouse gas emissions. It details how these batteries store electricity as heat in materials like graphite or bricks to provide high-temperature heat for industrial reactions and distillation, potentially reducing heat emissions by up to 99%.

• Thermal batteries can store electricity as heat in materials such as bricks, crushed rock, or graphite at temperatures reaching 1800°C. They are used in chemical plants to provide heat for reactions (which can require up to 1100°C) and distillation (typically requiring 100°C to 300°C), potentially replacing or supplementing natural gas boilers.
• The technology offers significant emissions reduction and economic potential, with the ability to abate up to 99% of current heat emissions when powered by renewable energy. The levelized cost of heat (LCOH) is estimated between $20 and $87 per megawatt hour (MWh), with capital expenses making up 20% to 40% of that cost.
• Thermal batteries can lower operational costs by charging during off-peak hours when electricity prices are low or negative, potentially reducing charging costs by up to 50%. They also provide reliability for plants using off-grid renewables by buffering the intermittency of solar and wind power.
• While thermal batteries are suitable for high-temperature needs, heat pumps are recommended for process heating up to 200°C, which represents 60% of heating-related emissions in the US. Other alternatives like solar thermal can handle 300°C to 1200°C but face scalability issues due to cost and intermittency.
• Adoption is supported by US federal tax credits under sections 45X (Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit) and 48C (Advanced Energy Project Credit) of the Internal Revenue Code. RMI suggests that state-level policy reforms regarding wholesale electricity rate access, non-adjacent parcel permitting, and interconnection queue resolutions are necessary to increase competitiveness.

APA

RMI (2024). Thermal Batteries: Electrifying Heating in Chemical Plants. https://rmi.org/resources/thermal-batteries-electrifying-heating-in-chemical-plants/

Chicago

RMI. Thermal Batteries: Electrifying Heating in Chemical Plants. 2024. https://rmi.org/resources/thermal-batteries-electrifying-heating-in-chemical-plants/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Thermal Batteries: Electrifying Heating in Chemical Plants |date=28 October 2024 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/thermal-batteries-electrifying-heating-in-chemical-plants/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2024thermal, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Thermal Batteries: Electrifying Heating in Chemical Plants}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/thermal-batteries-electrifying-heating-in-chemical-plants/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }