Finland's Pornainen deploys world's largest commercial sand battery to solve renewable energy intermittency
The small Finnish town of Pornainen has commissioned the world's largest commercial sand battery, developed by Polar Night Energy and operated by district heating company Loviisan Lämpö. The 13-meter-tall, 15-meter-wide facility contains 2,000 metric tons of crushed soapstone and provides 100 MWh of thermal energy storage. It can cover nearly one month of the town's summer heating demand and one week in winter. The battery stores excess wind and solar power as heat, then releases it via heat exchangers to warm water for the local district heating network. The project has reduced greenhouse gas emissions from heating by almost 70% and cut wood chip use by about 60%. CEO Tommi Eronen highlighted the advantage of avoiding rare earth materials compared to lithium-ion batteries. The technology faces challenges including low energy density and inefficiency in converting heat back to electricity.
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