Energy Dome

Energy Dome is an Italian company that has developed high-density long-duration energy storage using liquid CO2. In charging mode, energy is absorbed from the grid and stored for use as liquid CO2. The company uses a closed thermodynamic transformation that stores the CO2 in the liquid phase at ambient temperature and when energy is required, the CO2 is heated, which causes it to evaporate and expand. This results in the movement of a turbine, generating electricity. The exhaust heat is recovered through a CO2 Brayton cycle.

Energy Dome’s CO2 battery comes in a 20 MW frame that can be customized as per customer requirements. Each frame comes with equipment for compression (10 hours of charging time), expansion (10 hours of discharging time), and storage capacity. The company expects to launch its first frames in 2024. As of July 2023, Energy Dome has a project pipeline of over 9 GWh with clients ranging from utilities and independent power producers to corporations in the US, Europe, South America, India, and Australia.

This method of energy storage is more cost-efficient when compared with compressed air energy storage and liquid air energy storage (which requires cryogenic temperatures of -190°C), as the CO2 is stored in a liquid state at ambient temperature.

Key customers and partnerships

In September 2022, Energy Dome partnered with Ørsted, an offshore wind company, to carry out a feasibility study to deploy a 20 MW energy storage facility at one or more of Ørsted’s sites. The project is set to begin construction in 2H 2024.

In September 2023, Energy Dome partnered with Alliant Energy carry out the 200 MWh Columbia Energy Storage project using the former’s CO2 battery. Construction of the facility is expected to begin in 2025, and is set to be completed in 2026. In October 2023, the company signed a collaborative agreement with MAN Energy Solutions to integrate MAN’s technology expertise with Energy Dome’s battery design.

Funding and financials

Energy Dome’s latest funding was in December 2023, when the company secured a funding commitment amounting to EUR 60 million (~USD 65.4 million). The project-level grant commitment comprised of EUR 35 million (~USD 38.2 million) from Breakthrough Energy Catalyst and EUR 25 million (~USD 27.3 million) of venture debt funding from the European Investment Bank. Energy Dome intended to use the capital to fund its first CO2-based thermo-mechanical energy storage system in Sardinia, Italy. Prior to this, in July 2023 the company raised EUR 55 million (~USD 60 million) in a Series B funding round co-led by Eni Next and Neva SGR. The company intended to use the funds to expand its commercial operation globally.