A  global energy company and world leader in renewable energy, EDP has established a partnership with Rondo Energy to open a new market: the supply of clean industrial heat, at a large-scale and with an affordable cost, powered by wind and sun. The companies are targeting Rondo heat battery installations powered by renewable electricity from decentralized solar projects and long-term contracts (Power Purchase Agreements) of wind and solar EDP assets, serving EDP’s commercial and industrial customers with a complete zero-carbon heat & electricity solution.

EDP will be responsible for the development of wind and solar parks – large-scale and distributed projects. The distributed projects will be co-located with the Rondo Heat Battery, which is a zero-combustion, low-cost, and safe solution to decarbonize industries that use heat, from food and beverage industries to large chemical complexes and factories. Rondo Heat Batteries capture intermittent electric power and convert this into continuous high-temperature heat, with an option to also deliver continuous power through a combined heat and power (CHP) configuration.

Working together, the two companies are offering to EDP’s core markets a pioneer solution: 24/7 renewable heat and power supply contracts that will deliver deep decarbonization and major energy savings, powered by competitive renewable electricity from EDP and made possible with the Rondo Heat Battery.

“Rondo’s technology opens a major business opportunity for the decarbonization of our clients that have high energy needs and that use heat in their industrial facilities. By working with Rondo, we can meet their energy needs for renewable energy and heat in a cleaner, affordable, and reliable way. This partnership opens another decarbonization avenue that EDP wants to lead in Europe”, says  EDP’s board member Vera Pinto Pereira.

 “The cost of solar has come down so much in the past decade that it’s becoming cost-competitive with gas as a source of energy,” says CEO of Rondo Energy John O’Donnell. “We are proud to partner with EDP, whose drive, expertise, and excellence in execution have made them a world leader in delivering low-cost wind and solar power to their industrial customers.  I hear again and again from major industrials, ‘the factory team always hates it when the decarbonization team shows up: costs are going to go up and productivity is going to drop as we decarbonize.’  We’re changing that.  Working together, Rondo and EDP will deliver 24-hour clean heat to industrial customers at prices competitive with gas, and without any factory facility changes.  This is a game-changer for Rondo, a game-changer for EDP, and a game-changer for their customers worldwide.

”Rondo is a leading provider of zero-carbon industrial heat and power, making deep industrial decarbonization both possible and profitable. Rondo not only helps replace fossil fuels for some of the most challenging sectors to decarbonize, but its technology can also help stabilize the grid by adding a highly flexible electricity demand that can soak up renewable power when there is an abundance on the grid. Rondo Heat Batteries are proven at scale to enable low-cost heat and electricity for customers, all from intermittent renewable electricity.EDP is a global leader in renewable energy development in large-scale and distributed generation projects, with around 16 GWs of wind and solar deployed around the world and have pledged to be 100 per cent green by 2030. The company is also a global supplier of energy and renewable solutions from SMEs to large industrial clients. This expertise will accelerate the deployment of Rondo Heat Batteries as a simple drop-in replacement for traditional gas-fired boilers for EDP’s customers who aim to lower costs and achieve deep decarbonization.

Project deliveries with EDP are expected to begin in 2025.Cooperation between EDP and Rondo started in 2023 through Free Electrons, one of EDP’s flagship cleantech engagement programs that source solutions from cutting-edge cleantech companies from around the globe. This partnership unlocks a massive new market, by progressively replacing the fossil fuel burned for industrial heat, which currently releases 15 per cent of world CO2. 

Repowering industrial heat with renewable energy worldwide is a 7TW opportunity and is one of the greatest opportunities of our time to combat climate change with speed and scale. The recent  SystemIQ study on industrial heat found that heat battery deployment can cut world greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent, which includes the benefits heat batteries bring to the electricity system and eliminate combustion of fossil gas by up to 40 per cent.

https://www.edp.com