Antora Launches Project Big Stone

Antora is commissioning a 5 gigawatt-hour, multi-day thermal energy storage system at POET’s bioprocessing facility in Big Stone City, South Dakota. The deployment ranks among the world’s largest battery storage projects, delivered at the speed required to meet surging domestic energy demand.

Project Big Stone advanced from an empty lot to delivering energy in under 12 months. The landmark project, which will be completed later this year, deploys over 200 of Antora’s thermal batteries to deliver affordable, round-the-clock energy to POET—the world’s largest producer of biofuels—at their Big Stone City plant under a long-term energy offtake agreement.

Antora worked closely with Otter Tail Power—a utility that provides power at some of the lowest costs in the nation to customers across South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota—to develop an innovative electric rate that enables the system to deliver 24/7 energy without increasing costs for other consumers. Approved by the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission last year, the rate allows the system to selectively and rapidly charge during periods of surplus local energy production, making better use of existing grid infrastructure. The structure offers a model for utilities across the country to rapidly integrate thermal energy storage while benefiting everyone on the grid.

Read more about the project here.