Antora plans 5.8 GWh thermal battery to store electricity as heat in carbon blocks

A Kansas ethanol producer is preparing to use a nearly 6 gigawatt-hour thermal battery system to supply its plant with energy around the clock. Antora Energy announced the 5.8 GWh project on October 1 for Pratt Energy’s biorefinery in Pratt.

The planned installation stores energy for multiple days and is intended to provide affordable, reliable energy for the facility. Antora describes it as one of the world’s largest battery storage systems once completed.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners led the project’s third-party equity financing through its credit platform, with Grok Ventures and University Pension Plan Ontario also participating.

The announcement connects the investment to industrial energy demand and economic development in the Kansas community.

Turning electricity into stored heat

The system uses insulated blocks of solid carbon to hold energy as heat. Electricity charges the thermal batteries, and the stored heat can subsequently serve industrial processes. Antora’s technology can also deliver power.

At Pratt Energy, the commercial arrangement is a long-term heat offtake agreement. Energy deliveries are scheduled to start in 2027, giving the biorefinery access to an around-the-clock supply.

The Kansas project follows Antora’s commissioning of a 5 GWh system in Big Stone City, South Dakota. That earlier installation has a 50 MW rating; the Pratt announcement does not specify an equivalent power rating.

Antora manufactures its batteries in San Jose, California. An expansion earlier in 2026 added two facilities and doubled the site’s manufacturing capacity.

The Pratt deployment is the company’s second major thermal battery project announced this year.

Backing cleaner ethanol production

For Pratt Energy, the installation supports a broader ambition to produce zero-carbon-intensity ethanol. It represents a step toward that goal, rather than confirmation that the plant has achieved it.

The company expects lower-carbon production to create opportunities in additional markets. Reliable energy is also central to its plans to improve the competitiveness of its products.

The project’s financing brings together infrastructure and investment firms from several countries.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ involvement is through its credit platform, while Australian firm Grok Ventures and Canada’s University Pension Plan Ontario joined the equity financing.

Antora said the deployment is expected to consume little additional water beyond the plant’s existing needs and operate without raising noise levels at neighboring properties. Those statements describe anticipated operating conditions.

Training workers alongside the deployment

The project is expected to create and support more than 100 construction and operations jobs. Antora also plans to prioritize local candidates for permanent operating positions.

“Reliable energy is the foundation of everything we do, and this project lays that foundation for decades to come,” said Pratt Energy CEO Travis Lane.

A paid internship program with Pratt Community College has already sent two students to Antora’s South Dakota project.

Separately, scholarships administered through the South Central Community Foundation are intended to support up to 12 Pratt students over three years.

Antora is also establishing a community impact fund, with grants beginning in 2027 and funding decisions assigned to Pratt County residents.