DOE Awards $160 Million to Electrify Industrial Steam and Deploy Thermal Batteries in 10 Factories

WASHINGTON, DC — The United States Department of Energy (DOE) announced $160 million in matching grant awards through the Industrial Decarbonization Program, funding commercial demonstrations of industrial steam electrification and high-temperature thermal energy storage systems across 10 manufacturing facilities in eight states.

Cutting Heavy Industrial Carbon Emissions with Crushed-Rock and Molten Thermal Tech

The funding packages provide matching capital to industrial chemical, pulp and paper, and food processing plants in Texas, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Georgia to replace fossil gas-fired steam boilers with high-temperature electrical heat pumps, graphite-block thermal batteries, and molten salt storage systems. The systems charge using low-cost off-peak renewable electricity from the grid and discharge superheated industrial steam up to 500°C continuously, reducing plant natural gas consumption by 80%.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm emphasized that industrial heat accounts for a major portion of manufacturing emissions, affirming that thermal storage technology allows American factories to produce goods cleanly and cost-effectively.

Industrial Manufacturers and Thermal Storage Innovators Endorse

Manufacturing trade federations praised the grants, noting that electric thermal storage insulates commercial factories from natural gas commodity price spikes.

Clean energy engineering firms celebrated the commercial scaling of solid-state thermal batteries.

Engineering Installation Schedule

Thermal storage equipment delivery and factory integration will commence in January 2027.