World's largest sand battery begins operation in Finland
A sand battery, which uses sand to store heat, has been installed in Finland. The newly installed sand battery is 13 meters high and 15 meters wide, making it the largest in the world.
World's Largest Sand Battery Now in Operation - Polar Night Energy
Finland unveils world's largest sand battery for heating
https://newatlas.com/energy/largest-sand-battery-finland-pornainen/
Developed by Finnish company Polarnight Energy, the sand battery works by heating the sand inside with surplus electricity generated by renewable energy plants. The sand, heated to nearly 600 degrees, retains its heat for a long time, generating hot air when air is pumped through it. This hot air can be used to convert water into steam or to generate hot water for heating.
A project is underway to store surplus energy from wind and solar power as heat using a giant 13m-tall 'sand battery' - GIGAZINE
The Polarnite Energy sand battery has an output of 1MW and can store up to 100MWh of thermal energy. The sand used to store the heat is primarily made from soapstone chips left over from fireplace construction, which conserves resources and is said to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In the region of Pornainen, where the sand batteries will be introduced, the use of oil for heating will be phased out, and the use of wood chips for power generation, which has been the mainstream until now, will also be reduced, with the amount of wood chips used expected to be reduced by about 60%.
The sand battery can retain heat energy for several months, making it ideal for Finland, where wind and solar power generation varies greatly depending on the season.
The local government of Pornainen fully supports the project, and the sand battery has already been in operation since June 2025. Most of the town's buildings, including the city school, city hall, and library, are connected to the sand battery heating network.
Polar Knight Energy is in active discussions with partners in Finland and abroad about new sand battery projects and plans to carry out demonstration experiments to convert thermal energy into electricity in other parts of Finland.
'The project is progressing well. Pornäinen's Mayor, Antti Kuusela, said: 'Pornäinen aims to be a pioneer in sustainable energy solutions and we welcome any innovation that supports this goal. One of the key goals in our city strategy is to become carbon neutral and sand batteries will play an important role in achieving this.'
in Posted by log1p_kr