Siam Cement Group has invested in Rondo Energy, joining decarbonization investment leaders Energy Impact Partners and Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Rondo and SCG will be collaborating under a letter of intent to develop and expand the use of Rondo’s Heat Battery (RHB) technology.
The RHB can deliver deep decarbonization when applied across SCG’s lines of business including cement, chemicals, paper, and packaging. Rondo and SCG plan to offer large-scale renewable solutions for industry across Southeast Asia and expand Rondo’s reach and ability to deliver systems at scale worldwide.
SCG’s investment will support earlier deployments of the Rondo Heat Battery, which reduces operating costs for the world’s biggest energy users – heavy industry – while eliminating Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. Rondo will use this funding to scale its manufacturing capacity, originate customer projects, and develop services for both heavy industry and energy producers.
Rondo and SCG expect this collaboration to support rapid production and deployment of RHBs across Southeast Asia and worldwide. The companies plan to work together on large-scale renewable energy projects that decarbonize energy-intensive industrial operations.
“Rondo is excited to be working with SCG,” said John O’Donnell, CEO of Rondo Energy. “Rondo’s technology opens a new pathway for SCG to achieve their deep decarbonization goals and simultaneously reduce their operating costs. SCG’s deep capabilities in execution and quality will enable Rondo to deliver reliable energy infrastructure rapidly and at scale. Together, Rondo and SCG have the global footprint to deliver deep decarbonization projects, including Heat as a Service projects in Southeast Asia and worldwide.”
The Rondo Heat Battery is a simple solution for low-cost deep decarbonization of industrial processes. Renewable electricity is stored as high-temperature heat in brick. The stored heat is delivered on demand at temperatures up to 1,500°C. The Heat Battery delivers the reliable, continuous energy supply industry needs, while capturing the lowest-cost, lowest-carbon energy in the world today: intermittent wind and solar power.
Rondo’s simple, practical solution builds on the steel industry’s experience in using millions of tons of brick for low-cost heat storage worldwide, and on decades of team experience building large-scale industrial heat. The plunging costs and worldwide availability of wind and solar power now make Rondo’s zero-carbon heat the lowest-cost approach to large-scale industrial decarbonization.
