Antora Energy, a leader in zero-carbon heat and power for the industrial sector, has received over $4 million in grant funding from the California Energy Commission (CEC) through the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) program and the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) through the Duration Addition to electricitY Storage (DAYS) program to scale its breakthrough heat-to-power thermophotovoltaic (TPV) technology. This funding represents critical state-federal collaboration to scale innovative clean energy technologies, following earlier funding from the two organizations to bring Antora’s TPV technology from the lab to the manufacturing line.
Antora’s thermal battery stores renewable energy as heat in blocks of solid carbon, enabling cost-effective energy storage and outputting high-temperature industrial heat and electricity on demand at costs competitive with fossil fuels. Until now, converting stored heat back to electricity has required the use of conventional heat engines like steam turbines, which have significant limitations around cost, efficiency, complexity, and scalability. TPV technology enables the conversion of heat into power with high efficiency, rapid ramp rate, low cost, and no moving parts—unlocking the dual heat and power output needed to completely replace the fossil fuels used in today’s processes for sectors like food & beverage, paper products, chemicals, steel, and cement.
For decades, TPV technology met neither the efficiency threshold required to compete with traditional heat engines nor the manufacturability threshold required to produce in a cost effective manner the technology at scale. Antora has met both of these critical thresholds, demonstrating heat-to-electricity conversion efficiencies greater than 40%, and opening the world’s first dedicated manufacturing line for TPV cells earlier this year. This funding will further Antora’s progress in scaling TPV production.
“From the very beginning, the CEC and ARPA-E have been critical supporters of Antora,” said Andrew Ponec, co-founder and CEO, Antora Energy. “This additional funding will further accelerate our production of TPV and continue to strengthen Antora’s position as the industry leader in TPV technology. With TPV, Antora is capable of decarbonizing the entire energy demand of large industrial facilities—both heat and power—opening the fastest, least expensive path for the industrial sector to reach net zero.”
“ARPA-E’s mission is to enable transformational, impactful energy innovation, and we’re pleased to support Antora in scaling their technology,” said ARPA-E Director Evelyn N. Wang. “Antora has already made history with the world’s first dedicated manufacturing line for TPV cells, and I look forward to Antora’s work to help achieve our nation’s clean energy goals.”
“The CEC is pleased to partner with ARPA-E in supporting Antora to scale their TPV production in California,” said CEC R&D Director Jonah Steinbuck. “Industrial emissions are among the hardest to abate and Antora’s cutting-edge technology holds promise in overcoming that challenge.”
Last month, Antora announced its first large-scale thermal battery manufacturing facility, which will produce thermal battery modules for the company’s first major commercial projects. In September, Antora launched its thermal battery at an industrial site near Fresno, California—a factory-made, road-shippable module discharging zero-emissions heat and zero-emissions power. Antora’s milestone achievements with TPV technology are critical for decarbonizing industry in line with the Department of Energy’s Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap and achieving the State of California’s goal of relying entirely on zero-emissions energy sources for its electricity by the year 2045.
About Antora Energy
Based in Sunnyvale, CA, Antora converts low-cost, intermittent renewable electricity into reliable, on-demand, zero-emissions industrial heat and power. Antora’s thermal batteries can discharge zero-emissions electricity and/or heat at temperatures hot enough to address the hardest-to-decarbonize industrial applications. Antora’s technology will eliminate gigatons of emissions while increasing U.S. energy security, reducing our nation’s dependence on global supply chains, and supporting American jobs. The company is backed by leading investors, including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Shell Ventures, BHP Ventures, Trust Ventures, Fifty Years, Grok Ventures, Impact Science Ventures, and Overture VC. Visit www.antoraenergy.com and follow the company on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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