Draft:Energy Dome (company)

Energy Dome is a company headquartered in Milan, Italy[1] that develops technology for long-duration energy storage.[2] The company developed a thermodynamic system that functions as a battery,[3] storing excess energy from wind and solar farms.[2]

History

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Energy Dome was founded in 2019,[4] by Claudio Spadacini.[5] The company raised $11 million dollars in series A in 2021, and $60 million in Series B financing in 2023.[6]

In 2022, the company constructed a 2.5-megawatt/4-megawatt-hour demo storage facility in Sardinia to demonstrate the technology could work at a larger scale.[6] The facility led to the development of a 20-megawatt/200-megawatt-hour facility at the same location.[6]

During the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, an initiative founded by Bill Gates to fund alternative energy technologies, pledged €35 million in funding to Energy Dome through a partnership with the European Union.[7]As part of the agreement, the European Investment Bank pledged €25m in venture debt financing commitment to the company.[7]

Technology

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The CO2 Battery is a technology designed to store excess electricity generated by renewable sources, such as wind and solar, at times of low demand.[2]

The system utilizes an inflatable atmospheric gas holder, known as a "dome," which is filled with carbon dioxide (CO2) in its gaseous form.[8] When charging, the battery system draws CO2 from the inflatable dome and compresses the gas, generating heat. This heat is captured and stored in a thermal energy storage device.[8] The compressed CO2 is then cooled, liquefied under pressure and stored in vessels at ambient temperature, thereby completing the charging process.[8]

To discharge the system, the stored heat is used to warm up the liquid CO2, causing the gas to evaporate and be conveyed through a turbine, thus producing electricity.[9] The CO2 then returns to the atmospheric gas holder at ambient temperature and pressure[7] to be used again in another storage cycle, with no emissions to the atmosphere.[10]

References

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  1. ^ Zeeberg, Amos (18 March 2024). "Storing Renewable Energy, One Balloon at a Time". New York Times. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Clark, Aaron (24 May 2022). "Battery Startup Eschews Costly Metals for Thermodynamic Storage". Bloomberg. Retrieved 1 November 2024. If successful, the energy storage company's technology could play a crucial role in the rapidly expanding market for long-duration, utility-scale storage systems
  3. ^ Orf, Darren (12 July 2024). "A Giant Energy Dome Is Daringly Turning Carbon Dioxide Into Power". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  4. ^ O'Brien, Amy (8 November 2023). "Serial entrepreneurs are returning home to Italy to found their next companies. That's a good thing for local tech". Sifted. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  5. ^ Cuthbertson, Anthony (16 November 2022). "World's first CO2 battery is 'missing piece' in renewable energy puzzle". Independent. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Spector, Julian (20 July 2023). "Grid storage innovator Energy Dome closes $60M funding round". Canary Media. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Sanderson, Cosmo (1 December 2023). "Bill Gates fund and EU back 'first-of-a-kind CO2 battery'". Recharge. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  8. ^ a b c Proctor, Darrell (1 February 2022). "Italian Group Taps CO2 for Energy Storage". Power mag. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  9. ^ Crownhart, Casey (3 May 2022). "This company wants to use carbon dioxide to store renewable power on the grid". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  10. ^ Bellini, Emiliano (10 December 2021). "Storing solar power with compressed carbon dioxide". PV Magazine. Retrieved 1 July 2024.