Construction of a 250MWh super-giant 'sand battery' has begun, reducing fossil fuel emissions by 60% by heating and storing heat in sand
Finnish company
250MWh 'Sand Battery' to start construction in Finland, for both heating and ancillary services - Energy-Storage.News
https://www.energy-storage.news/250mwh-sand-battery-to-start-construction-in-finland-for-both-heating-and-ancillary-services/
The sand battery being built by Polar Night Energy in Verks will have a thermal energy storage capacity of 250 MW and a heating output of 20 MW. It will convert clean, affordable electricity into heat, store it, and then release it as thermal energy. When completed, it will be the largest sand-based thermal storage system ever built.
Polar Night Energy's sand battery technology uses electricity to heat sand or similar solid materials, storing the heat and using the stored thermal energy for industrial and heating applications. The sand battery is expected to reduce Verks' natural gas use by 80 percent, reduce wood chip consumption, and cut fossil fuel emissions by 60 percent.
The sand battery will use locally sourced natural sand as a heat storage medium in a 14-metre-high, 15-metre-wide container. Polar Night Energy is the prime contractor for the Verks sand battery project, with construction due to start in early 2026 and be completed in the summer of 2027.
Polar Night Energy's sand battery is touted as being large enough to not only supply thermal energy to Lahti Energia's heating network in Vaaks, but also to participate in the reserve power market and grid balancing market of Fingrid , the operator of Finland's national electricity transmission system.
Polar Night Energy, in collaboration with energy company Loviisan Lämpö, has just completed a 100MWh sand battery in the summer of 2025. This sand battery uses soapstone, a by-product produced in the production of ceramics, as a heat storage medium.
The world's largest 'sand battery' begins operation in Finland - GIGAZINE
Jouni Haikalainen, CEO of Lahti Energia, said of the sand battery to be built in Vaaks: 'We want to offer our customers affordable district heating and use renewable energy for heat production. The scale of the sand battery will also enable us to participate in Fingrid's reserve power market and grid balancing market. As the share of weather-dependent energy on the grid increases, the sand battery will contribute to maintaining the balance between power supply and demand.'
There is also an idea to apply a heat storage system using sand to a cooker.
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