Our Technology

Decarbonizing Power and Industrial Processes

Our Thermal Energy Storage (TES) will provide Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) using low-cost, solid media materials. Our technology is designed for storing heat, both from the sun, which is clean energy and from industrial waste heat, which is currently being wasted but could be captured to provide significant energy. The TES is also designed to store cold. The energy will be stored for hours and days at multiple temperature ranges. 

​Because our TES stores heat and cold in multiple temperature ranges, it keeps the thermal energy at useful temperatures which can be integrated at multiple points in creating power or delivering heat and cold to residential and industrial processes.  Our TES technology is designed for both large and small operations, focusing on utility and industrial scale solutions. Increased size means more efficiency and longer storage times. 

​The thermal source for the TES can be anything from the heat of sun, waste heat, or electrically generated heat or cold. Normally, this thermal energy is to be used immediately (green arrow with clock). Utilizing our TES, the thermal energy can be stored for later use, making it much more valuable because it can be used when it is most needed. This long-term storage brings resiliency to deal with fluctuations caused by loss of service due to gird failures such as those caused by weather events. 

The TES for high temperature industrial processes allows the recovered waste heat to be used for multiple purposes.  It also enables the heat from CSP to be combined with industrial waste heat to run industrial processes 24/7. Using this combined heat for directly generating electricity when it is needed and for running industrial processes at constant heat adds reliability and availability as we transition to renewable energy. 

Our technology will exceed current limits of other solutions with up to 1000C and 250-hour storage duration.  These higher temperatures will support the next generation of CSP technologies which are targeting 1000oC with gas and falling-particle receiver/HTF systems. Many industrial processes like those for the manufacture of steel,  cement, or ceramics, use heat > 500C . Our targeted multiple ranges of temperatures lead to multiple system integration options. The longer storage durations enable dynamic storage management for more effective storage use. More efficient storage charging and discharging is the Skibo TES Advantage.

The sweet spot for Skibo Energy’s TES solution.

Novel Methods to Accomplish High-Duration Storage

Our engineers have designed a multi-stage, concentric TES solution which accomplishes the following: 

    • Multi-Stage, Concentric TES

    • Heat loss accumulates in the next layer of TES to reduce value of heat rather than quantity of heat

    • Outer TES layers give inner TES layers a higher temperature environment like a terrace

    • Less insulation required with possible use of vacuum for longer storage times

    • Cascaded TES

    • Multiple temperature charging steps enable efficient and effective charging and discharging