Snapshot THAILAND
Decarbonising the Cement Industry through Heat Batteries
The production of cement and concrete generated approximately 8% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2022, primarily due to energy-intensive clinkeri production. In Thailand, cement manufacturing is a major contributor to industrial emissions, with the sector producing 24.5 MtCO₂ in 2022, representing almost 10% of Thailand's total CO₂ emissions. The Thailand Cement Manufacturers Association has adopted the Thailand 2050 Net Zero Cement and Concrete Roadmap, setting ambitious sectoral targets: reducing emissions to 17.5 MtCO₂ by 2030, 8.8 MtCO₂ by 2040 and to zero by 2050.
The central hub of this transition is Saraburi Province, responsible for over 80% of Thailand's cement production and host to the Saraburi Sandbox Low Carbon City, a low-carbon innovation ecosystem that also hosts transitioning industrial clusters. Within this ecosystem, the private sector is introducing heat batteries powered by renewable energy as a solution for the decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries.
A groundbreaking partnership between Siam Cement Group (SCG) and U.S.-based Rondo Energy was announced in May 2024 to build and deploy the world's first commercial-scale heat battery system. SCG holds a dominant position in Thailand's cement industry, accounting for approximately 38% of national production capacity, and producing 23 million tons per annum through its operations in Saraburi Province.
The project, still under construction in Saraburi, will install Rondo Heat Battery (RHB) systems that convert local solar power into continuous zero-carbon heat. Notably, SCG also manufactures high-quality refractory bricks – the core storage medium of Rondo's Heat Battery – making this a two-way partnership that integrates joint research and development (R&D) and manufacturing capabilities. This technology resolves the mismatch between intermittent renewable energy generation and the constant high-temperature heat demand of cement production. The installation marks the first deployment of heat battery technology in Asia and serves as a blueprint for partial decarbonisation across cement production in developing countries, which account for 90% of global output.
Heat batteries can deliver energy density of over 1 MWh per square metre, storing renewable heat up to 1500 °C for continuous industrial use.
Heat batteries store energy by converting renewable electricity into high-temperature heat. Rondo Heat Batteries use refractory bricks composed of abundant, inert materials like silicon and aluminium, that can store heat up to 1500°C for hours or days without degradation.
Electricity is used to heat the bricks through resistive heating. Once charged, the system delivers consistent, dispatchable high-temperature heat or electricity as needed. It effectively decouples renewable energy supply from industrial energy demand, providing zero-carbon baseload heat. The solution is modular and scalable, and offers a direct replacement for fossil fuel-powered boilers and kilns. It is intrinsically safe – containing no liquids, chemicals or combustibles – and provides exceptional energy density (over 1 MWh per square meter for Rondo Heat Batteries). According to Rondo, the batteries have a 40-year lifespan and are designed for high reliability with low operational complexity.
Rondo and SCG have already collaborated on a facility in California that is in the process of scaling up from 2.4 GWh/year today to 90 GWh/year of heat battery production – more than any current battery facility worldwide. Deployment of Rondo batteries is also planned in Denmark, Germany, India and the United States. In addition, Rondo is collaborating with Aramco and H&M, thereby demonstrating the technology's versatility and its applicability across the heavy industry and the textile sectors.
Other players in the heat battery industry include Antora Energy, which uses thermophotovoltaic cells and carbon blocks; Brenmiller Energy, offering modular steam-based storage; and Kyoto Group, focused on molten salt systems. Companies like EnergyNest and Caldera also develop thermal storage solutions for decarbonisation of industrial heat, targeting sectors with high-temperature and continuous energy needs.
Snapshot Thailand from the following sources: M. Purton, ‘4 Ways to Make the Cement Industry More Sustainable', World Economic Forum, 13 September 2024, https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/09/cement-production-sustainable-concrete-co2-emissions/. TCMA and TCA, ‘Thailand 2050 Net Zero Cement & Concrete Roadmap – Published in October 2024', accessed 20 May 2025, https://www.thaicma.or.th/th/ebook_detail/3/197.; Rondo Energy, ‘SCG Cleanergy & Rondo Energy to Deploy World's First Heat Battery to Power Cement Production – Rondo Energy', accessed 20 May 2025, https://www.rondo.com/news-press/scg-cleanergy-amp-rondo-energy-to-deploy-worlds-first-heat-battery-to-power-cement-production.; Joachim Harder, ‘Outlook on ASEAN's Cement Industry – Cement Lime Gypsum', accessed 20 May 2025, https://www.zkg.de/en/artikel/zkg_Outlook_on_ASEAN_s_cement_industry-3403537.html.; Rondo Energy, ‘Product Launch: The Rondo Heat Battery (RHB), Providing the World's Lowest-Cost, Zero-Carbon Industrial Heat – Rondo Energy', accessed 20 May 2025, https://www.rondo.com/news-press/product-launch-the-rondo-heat-battery-rhb-providing-the-worlds-lowest-cost-zero-carbon-industrial-heat.; Rondo Energy, ‘Rondo Energy and Siam Cement Group Plan 90GWh Battery Factory, World's Largest – Rondo Energy', accessed 20 May 2025, https://www.rondo.com/news-press/rondo-energy-and-siam-cement-group-plan-90gwh-battery-factory-worlds-largest.; Rondo Energy, ‘Rondo Energy Announces €75M Project Funding with Breakthrough Energy Catalyst and the European Investment Bank - Rondo Energy', accessed 20 May 2025, https://www.rondo.com/news-press/rondo-energy-announces-75m-project-funding-with-breakthrough-energy-catalyst-and-the-european-investment-bank.; Rondo Energy, “‘Aramco and Rondo Energy Agree on GW-Scale Thermal Storage Deployment, Hydrogen and Carbon Capture. – Rondo Energy', accessed 20 May 2025, https://www.rondo.com/news-press/aramco-and-rondo-energy-agree-on-gw-scale-thermal-storage-deployment-hydrogen-and-carbon-capture; ‘H&M Group Invests in Rondo Energy to Further Strengthen Their Climate Strategy – Rondo Energy', accessed 20 May 2025, https://www.rondo.com/news-press/hm-group-invests-in-rondo-energy-to-further-strengthen-their-climate-strategy.
i Clinker is the high-temperature intermediate product in cement production, formed by calcining limestone and other materials. This process is the primary source of GHG emissions in the cement industry.