The Hampshire heat specialist has developed a heat storage technology that uses solar energy to heat up solid megacells made of scrap aluminium and volcanic rock.
Each vacuum-insulated cell can store this heat at up to 500掳C, ready to be delivered on demand to industrial users as hot water or steam up to 210掳C, it says.
Caldera already has a demonstrator at its factory and is now scaling up by building it first full-size megacell, which will be 2.9 metres diameter and seven metres high, and capable of storing up to 4MWh of low carbon thermal energy.
Each cell is filled with a proprietary aluminium-rock composite, a 鈥榯hermal super material鈥� designed by Caldera to cheaply and effectively store low carbon electricity as heat.
The project has 拢4.3m backing from the UK Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, and now company chief executive James Macnaghten is seeking industrial partners to host megacells.
鈥淢ost people think the steam age ended last century 鈥� but in fact it has never gone away,鈥� he said. 鈥淎round 70% of UK industrial energy demand is for heat, with industrial steam accounting for 31% of the total.
鈥淭his steam is crucial for processes in sectors like pharmaceuticals, food manufacturing and brewing, and is typically generated by boilers burning gas or oil. Steam is ideal for many businesses because it holds a lot of heat which can be moved around relatively easily via pipes and valves.
鈥淭o date, most factories still rely on gas to heat that water 鈥� but our technology allows industrial users to capitalise on inexpensive solar energy, which can be generated on-site or on land nearby.
鈥淪olar energy is getting cheaper by the day, and many businesses have not yet realised the huge potential for installing a dedicated solar farm 鈥� even where little roof space is available.鈥�
Analysis by energy consultant Gemserv suggests that Caldera鈥檚 system could cut fuel bills by 45% and pay for itself in less than six years.
鈥淚t is often both feasible and economic to lease land for a solar farm in the vicinity and run a dedicated cable 鈥� known as a 鈥榩rivate wire鈥� 鈥� for a kilometre or more to the industrial site,鈥� Macnaghten said. 鈥淥ur system removes the need for costly grid connection upgrades, which can take years, and means the factory owner can generate and use all of their solar energy at cost.
鈥淭his transforms the economics of solar power and gives the site owner price certainty over decades, allowing manufacturers to focus on their core business, and not on the price of gas,鈥� James says.
To date, Caldera has been developing a number of small heat cells, connected in parallel, and the development of the megacell has come through discussions with industrial users.
鈥淢any industrial sites have a constrained footprint. It therefore made sense for us to move away from multiple small cells to larger and much taller cells,鈥� Macnaghten said. 鈥淥ur new megacell is sized specifically to fit on a standard truck, and by making the cell much taller, we can now store significantly more heat.
鈥淲e are now talking with early-adopter industrial customers who wish to be the first to benefit from this low-carbon technology and we鈥檙e aiming to begin our first install in 2025.鈥�
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