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Freedom251 › Blog › industrial electrification

What Industries Can Use Thermal Energy Storage Instead of Fossil-Fuel Heat?

By Freedom251 Team · · 6 min read

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Food and beverage, paper and pulp, textiles, chemicals, transport equipment, mining and mineral processing, iron and steel, cement, glass, and petroleum refining all have potential applications for thermal energy storage (TES). The fit depends on the temperature and timing of a facility’s heat demand, the available source used to charge storage, and whether stored heat can serve the process directly or only preheat inputs. TES shifts heat through time; it is not itself a heat source, and its use does not automatically eliminate fossil-fuel consumption.

Which industries are candidates for thermal energy storage?

TES can support lower-temperature heat and steam applications as well as some energy-intensive, high-temperature processes. The examples below describe potential uses, not proof that every facility—or every process within a sector—can replace its fossil-fuel heat with stored heat.

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Industry Relevant heat uses or opportunity What the evidence supports
Food and beverages Steam, drying, sterilization, blanching, roasting, and pasteurization The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) describes concentrating solar power (CSP) steam used in nut processing and a separate dairy pasteurization integration. These are renewable-heat examples, not evidence that TES displaced all fossil heat at either facility.
Paper and pulp; wood products Drying, process heat, and steam DOE identifies pulp and paper drying as an example for underground TES. The International Energy Agency (IEA) also groups paper and wood products among industries with low-temperature heat and steam demand.
Textiles and transport equipment Low-temperature heat and steam at suitable facilities The IEA identifies these as part of a diverse group of manufacturing activities that rely on such heat. Process requirements vary by facility, so the sector label alone does not establish a particular temperature or storage design.
Chemicals Both lower-temperature heat and steam and high-temperature process applications Chemical production appears in both the IEA’s low-temperature grouping and DOE’s high-temperature applications. The specific process and product determine the heat duty.
Ore and mineral processing; iron and steel; cement; glass High-temperature heat, with storage potentially supporting a process or preheating inputs DOE identifies these as potential high-temperature TES applications. For processes requiring temperatures above 1,400°C, it describes reducing fuel use by preheating fuel, oxidizer, or process material; that is not the same as replacing the full heat duty.
Petroleum refining Potential solar-thermal heat application DOE includes refining among sectors where solar thermal could replace fossil fuels. Its cited material does not establish a specific refinery TES deployment.

In its 2025 report, the IEA estimates that industries relying primarily on low-temperature heat and steam account for roughly 70% of global industrial energy consumption. The same sector group produced nearly 3 Gt of direct energy-related CO₂ in 2023—half of direct industrial emissions, according to the IEA—and its direct energy-related CO₂ emissions had declined by around 8% since 2013. These figures describe the group, not emissions attributable to TES.

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What does TES replace—and what does it not?

A TES system stores heat so it can be delivered later. A separate source charges it: for example, an electric boiler or another form of electrified heat, CSP, geothermal heat, or recovered heat. During discharge, the stored heat may supply a process directly, provide steam, or preheat fuel, oxidizer, or feedstock. Which role is possible depends on the process temperature, heat-transfer requirements, and integration design.

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This distinction matters for emissions: storage shifts heat in time; the charging source determines whether that heat is low-carbon. A system charged from fossil-fuel heat can shift supply without removing its fossil origin. A renewable or electrified charging source can support fossil displacement, but the result also depends on the heat delivered during discharge and the plant’s remaining fuel use.

TES can help align variable renewable electricity with continuous industrial demand, shift heat away from periods of high electricity prices, and give electric heat systems more flexibility. The IEA’s 2025 executive summary calls thermal storage “the enabling technology that can connect low-cost variable renewable electricity supply with continuous industrial heat demand.” That enabling role does not mean every industrial process can be electrified using storage alone.

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How do temperature and storage technologies affect fit?

Lower-temperature heat and steam

Lower-temperature applications include heat and steam uses such as food and beverage drying or sterilization. DOE’s 2023 assessment uses “high-temperature TES” (HTTES) for storage above 300°C; this is a storage category, not a universal dividing line for industrial processes. The required delivery temperature and heat-transfer medium must be checked for the actual process.

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High-temperature process heat

DOE identifies high-temperature applications across sectors including minerals, iron and steel, cement, glass, and chemicals. Some processes operate above 1,400°C. In that range, DOE describes TES as a possible way to cut fuel consumption by preheating inputs—not as a demonstrated, general replacement for the full process heat requirement.

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The IEA’s 2025 report says simple materials such as sand, cement, and bricks can be used in thermal storage systems at temperatures up to 1,000°C. That characterization is not a performance specification for every material, system, or industrial application.

Sensible, latent, and thermochemical storage

TES can store heat by changing a material’s temperature (sensible storage), changing its phase (latent storage), or using a reversible chemical reaction (thermochemical storage). DOE’s 2023 assessment says sensible systems using liquids or solid particles have been deployed or are under pilot demonstration. It identifies significant material gaps for latent storage beyond water or ice and for thermochemical storage. Those status descriptions should not be read as evidence that every approach is commercially mature for industrial process heat.

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For context, DOE describes molten nitrate salts as both the storage medium and heat-transfer medium in existing state-of-the-art CSP plants. For systems above 700°C, it identifies molten chloride salts, solid particles, and supercritical carbon dioxide as researched heat-transfer media. Research on a medium does not by itself establish its commercial readiness for a particular industrial retrofit.

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Underground thermal energy storage

Underground TES may be relevant when a site can use its geology to store heat. DOE describes aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) as groundwater-based and seasonal; borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) as a closed loop in bedrock, where drilling and materials add installation costs; and reservoir thermal energy storage (RTES) as using deeper formations and envisioned for higher temperatures. An industrial RTES demonstration in California is intended to move the technology closer to commercial use, so industrial RTES remains developing rather than a routine, proven option.

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What should a facility assess before investing?

Storage is only one part of a heat-supply project. The IEA recommends improving efficiency before sizing heat electrification and storage, including through waste-heat recovery, insulation, process control, and plant-level thermal optimization.

  • Heat duty: Identify delivery temperature, heat-transfer medium, and whether the process needs direct heat, steam, or preheating.
  • Demand and duration: Map when heat is needed, how continuous the demand is, and whether storage must shift heat by hours or across seasons.
  • Charging source: Establish what will charge the store—renewable electricity, solar thermal, geothermal heat, recovered heat, or another source—and what supplies heat when storage is depleted.
  • Site and integration: Check geology for underground systems, available space, grid access, retrofit constraints, and how storage connects to existing process equipment.
  • Economics: Evaluate energy-price patterns, integration costs, and storage performance for the specific facility rather than assuming one technology or price applies across industries.

The IEA’s 2025 executive summary gives an estimated storage cost of USD 15–20 per kWh. It is a broad report estimate, not a current project bid or a directly comparable price for every technology; costs vary with the system boundary and project conditions.

DOE’s 2023 assessment also notes that “Thermal energy storage for augmenting existing industrial process heat applications makes a much more attractive economic case because the energy penalty due to thermal-to-electric conversion is eliminated.” This is a comparison with converting heat to electricity and back—not a guarantee that a specific storage project will be economical.

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Which facilities are most likely to benefit?

The strongest candidates are facilities with a clear heat duty that storage can serve, a practical low-carbon source for charging it, and a demand pattern where shifting heat has value. That could mean storing renewable or electrified heat for a steam or drying load, using underground storage for a suitable seasonal application, or preheating inputs in a high-temperature process. Sector names alone are not enough to establish technical or financial fit, and the available sector examples are not a census of commercial TES deployment.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

industrial electrificationindustrial heatprocess heatrenewable energythermal energy storage

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