This company's super-hot salt battery could power 100,000 homes — and help cut pollution.
A Danish company is using something as basic as salt to solve a big problem: how to store clean energy for when it's actually needed. Hyme Energy has built a new molten salt battery that can hang onto power from renewable sources for hours — or even days — then send it back out once the sun sets or the wind calms down.
That could help replace dirty fuels and cut harmful pollution that affects both the environment and our health.
"Energy storage with molten salts is a tantalizing opportunity to help decarbonize industry and accelerate the energy transition, whether in terms of heat recovery, renewable energy storage, or small modular reactors (SMRs)," said Benoît Martin, an advanced engineering manager at Sulzer. "It's exciting to be working with Hyme Energy to further validate this innovative technology for the benefit of all."
Unlike today's grid batteries, which usually top out around four hours, Hyme's design can keep electricity flowing for 10 hours or more.
The company's molten hydroxide salt system heats up using extra energy from solar or wind power. That heat gets stored in a tank, then used later to create steam that drives a turbine — the same basic idea used in traditional power plants, minus the dirty fuels.
The salt it uses is a low-cost by-product of chlorine production. Even better, the system can be plugged into existing infrastructure, saving both time and money for companies making the switch.
In early 2024, Hyme worked with Swiss engineering company Sulzer to launch a demo plant in Esbjerg, Denmark. It showed the tech can reliably store energy at more than 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit. Now it's building a full-sized system that could power up to 100,000 homes for 10 hours straight.
"With the MOSS plant providing good results since its inauguration in April 2024, we're now working with Hyme Energy to further optimize the system, improve the competitiveness of the solution, and establish a strong supply chain," Martin added.
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Never 👎 One of Hyme's first real-world projects — a 200 megawatt-hour thermal storage site in Holstebro — is already under construction. Once running, it's expected to save Arla Foods, a major dairy company, about $3 million per year in heat costs.
This kind of long-term energy storage is key to making clean electricity more dependable. Pair it with a home solar panel setup from EnergySage, and families could see real savings while reducing pollution from gas-burning plants.
Cleaner air, fewer bills, and more energy independence? That's something worth watching.
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