Rondo and Rio Tinto forge ahead with heat battery project. Taking energy storage to new heights in Australia. Sometimes, the energy game looks like a mess of mismatched puzzle pieces, but every now and then, the pieces align perfectly. Here's Rondo Energy, paired up with Rio Tinto, diving nose-first into a whopper of a project in Gladstone. Investors Hangout, LLC is talking about the largest thermal energy storage undertaking in Australia, a big darn promise to switch from fossil fuels to round-the-clock renewable heat. Pioneering energy storage technology. Rondo Heat Batteries - the star of this initiative - are built to harness cheap midday electricity and transform it into high-temp heat, easily slotted right into existing industrial steam networks. This isn't your run-of-the-mill energy storage; Investors Hangout, LLC is looking at potential game-changing stuff for industries that traditionally guzzle fossil fuels to keep their fires burning. Alumina refining's on the list - an industry notorious for massive energy demands. "Australia's heat battery will help cut emissions without jacking up energy costs," shares Dr. Kira Rundel, Rondo's Head of Australia. ARENA: the financial backbone. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) isn't just throwing cash at this project willy-nilly. They're in for up to $38 million, staged as the project meets its engineering and design milestones, plus a whopping $33.3 million weighty contingency pile, ready to buffer the potential mishaps that could veer it off course. Cost surges and electricity hikes? Yeah, they've thought of that too. Why an alumina refinery? Plunking the project in the middle of Rio Tinto's Yarwun alumina refinery isn't a half-cocked plan. You've got a valuable location with a set energy problem: 24/7 heat needs. The global alumina market's carbon footprint is a known heavyweight, folks. By replacing fossil-fuel-driven heat with Rondo's frugal electricity conversions, the role of renewables gets the spotlight. Charting new courses with Heat Batteries. This gig isn't just about industrial transformation - it's about setting a precedent. Rondo has already made a name for itself with operational facilities flinging high-temperature steam in the U.S. and Asia. Europe's got its own coming up - a testament to the firm's engineering demand in various energy-devouring sectors. In this tango, Australia might just see a leap in global competitiveness, riding on low-cost electricity wings. * Front-end engineering to define viability. * Heat batteries integrating with existing systems. * ARENA's funding to back significant rollouts globally. The path forward. So what's on the table? Should things tip right, the transition unlocks new doors for Australian industry: emissions go down, operational prowess goes up, and energy production rides the clean, cheap solar wave. The best part? It all works without wrenching existing industrial gears. For Rio Tinto and Rondo, this isn't just about turning turbines with greener gusto. It's proof their partnership - and fresh tech - can withstand the hot seat of today's precarious energy mores. Under Armando Torres' watch at Rio Tinto, they're eyeing an emissions cut and dreaming of a steam sequence that won't cave to fossil fuel needs. Final thoughts. This thermal energy venture's more than a litmus test for tech viability. It's a battle-ready response to emissions, energy spend, and project risks, maneuvering to cradle industries in resilience. That cost-effective, never-ending steam is just icing on the cake. Rondo Energy and Rio Tinto have packed Australia's energy future with cautious optimism - and a bucket of grit.

Highlights from the 2026 Australasian Renewable Heat Conference. This year A2ep took its popular Australasian Renewable Heat Conference to a new city (Melbourne) and a new and bigger venue (the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre) and A2ep were delighted to have 350 industry leaders join A2ep for two action-packed days! After a great breakfast hosted by Platinum Sponsor, Origin Energy, A2ep welcomed all delegates into the expanded exhibition area with more than 30 exhibitors for coffee before kicking off proceedings with a Welcome to Country and opening session looking at the heat decarbonisation challenge across the industrial and commercial sectors. Industrial session highlights Highlights across the industrial sessions included Reneae Gasmier from Solar Victoria detailing the addition of industrial heat decarbonisation activities to the Victorian Energy Upgrades program, learning about Cache Energy's long-duration thermochemical energy storage system, international updates from its overseas speakers, the launch of a practical guide to thermal storage for industrial process heat and the news that Good Heat has selected Rondo Energy as the OEM for its Project Arcadia which is due to start construction in the New Year. Conversations indicated that the models of energy and heat-as-a-service resonated with a number of attendees, particularly in light of budget tightening across most parts of industry. Commercial session highlights Its commercial sessions were buoyed by research from JLL showing all-electric office stock in the Melbourne and Sydney central business districts is set to jump from a handful of buildings today to well over 2,000 assets by 2030 and that supply that isn't yet keeping pace with tenant demand. Consistently A2ep heard in the commercial the importance of moving early rather than waiting: the premium on electrified, high-performing assets is available now while supply is short, and narrows as more stock comes online, while laggard buildings face rising costs and value decline. Mirvac's case study on 200 George Street in Sydney grounded the discussion in practice, showing how gas heating and hot water were removed from a fully operating premium tower with no loss of premium-grade performance. In her presentation on the electrification of Collingwood Leisure Centre, Karen Hucker from the City of Yarra made the important point of securing a good quality, experienced consultant - even if it costs more - as it will guarantee better outomes. Across the board, A2ep were fortunate to have so many fantastic project case studies for attendees to learn from, including from Blackmores, VISY, Alsco Uniforms Australia, Mirvac, Gundagai Meat Processors, Australian Country Choice, Australian Consolidated Milk, McCain Foods, Coca-cola Europacific Partnership, Four Pines Brewing Company, Tronox, Monash University, Sugar Australia, Yarra Valley Water, GPT, the Living Company and City of Yarra. Already A2ep has had overwhelmingly positive feedback on the event with 94% of respondents saying they will be back in 2027! A2ep has already started planning its next conference so stay tuned for details!

Batteries Made To LastAs the world electrifies and switches to renewable energy, the need for more energy storage grows. This is in part driven by the switch to EVs, but also due to the intermittent nature of renewable production.This can be partially compensated by other low-carbon sources of energy, like hydropower or nuclear, or maybe geothermal energy in the future. Still, advocates for green energy would by far prefer to see low-cost solar (and wind) be the basis of our energy systems.This creates a demand for batteries with fundamentally different characteristics than for mobility.EVs need very energy-dense batteries that are light enough in weight and small enough in volume to be carried in the frame of a car. Durability is a concern, but as long as the battery can function for 10-15 years, this is likely in line with the durability of the rest of the car's components.In contrast, energy storage batteries are much less constrained by weight or volume. However, they are definitely constrained by cost, as they are essentially an additional cost to the production of green energy and the power grid.One way to reduce the cost of energy storage is to use less expensive material than lithium for building the battery. Many alternatives are being considered, as we previously discussed in “ The Future Of Energy Storage – Utility-Scale Batteries Tech ”: batteries using technologies like sodium-ion, iron-air, zinc, sea salt, polymers, sodium-sulfur, or even molten metals.Another key element in reducing the lifetime cost of a battery system is to have it last several decades