The Finnish Startup Polar Night Energy has commissioned the largest sand battery in the world in Porninen, South Finland. The industrial scale system delivers 1 MW of thermal capacity with 100 MWh storage capacity, with a summer heat of a month and almost a week the winter demand to the local district heating network.
The Finnish startup Polar Night Energy has announced its industrial sand battery in Pornaen, South Finland, is now operational after commissioning by district heating company Loviisan Lämpö.
The pornin sand battery supplies 1 MW of thermal capacity and offers a storage capacity of 100 MWh, making it 10 times larger than the world’s first commercial sand -based, high temperature heat storage system launched in Kankaanpää in 2022 and the largest in the world so far.
Standing at almost 13 meters long and 15 meters wide, it uses approximately 2,000 tons of ground soapstone as its thermal storage medium.
It will serve as the most important production facility for the District Heating Network in Porninen, able to cover almost a month of heat demand in the municipality during the summer and almost a week in the winter.
The sand battery is expected to reduce the annual CO2 equivalent emissions of the local heating network by approximately 160 tons, which reduces the climate emissions in the district heating of pornen by almost 70%. It will also be possible to fully reduce the use of oil in the heating network of the municipality and reduce the consumption of wood snips by around 60%.
Pornin sand battery
Mikko Paajans, CEO of Loviisan Lämpö, said that the municipality wants to be climate neutral by 2035 and “the sand battery is an important step in that.”
The project was first announced in March 2024 before testing started in November 2024. The construction included around 40 subcontractors and more than 100 employees.
“This is a solid basis for scaling sand battery technology to even greater capacities, and in new industrial sectors,” said Polar Night Energy Chief Operating Officer Liisa Naskali.
The company also revealed that it is in “active discussions” with Finnish and international partners about new sand battery projects.
In May, Polar Night Energy announced plans to build a pilot factory in South Finland that will test its power-to-to-to-to-power sand battery technology, also known as the conversion of stored thermal energy back in electricity. The company also obtained € 7.6 million ($ 8.2 million) in seed financing last year.
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