BIG STONE CITY, S.D. – POET and Antora Energy announced the commissioning of a 5 gigawatt-hour thermal energy storage system at POET's bioprocessing facility in Big Stone City, South Dakota.
The project deployed over 200 thermal batteries and was built in under 12 months. The system will be fully operational later this year.
Antora's technology stores electricity as heat in insulated blocks of solid carbon. That heat is then delivered for industrial processes. POET receives energy under a long-term heat offtake agreement.
The investment created over 300 manufacturing and construction jobs in South Dakota and at Antora's San Jose, California facility.
Grok Ventures structured and provided project-level financing as the sole external investor.
'With this project, Antora is delivering affordable energy to POET—fast,' said Andrew Ponec, CEO of Antora Energy.
Jeff Broin, POET Founder and CEO, said the company is 'dedicated to supplying the world with affordable, American-made biofuels.'
Antora worked with Otter Tail Power Company to develop an electric rate approved by the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission.
The U.S. Department of Energy provided early R&D funding for Antora's technology.
