Heineken to power Lisbon brewery with a 100 MWh heat battery — steam from stored solar

Heineken is building a 100 MWh heat battery at its Lisbon brewery to generate high‑temperature steam using stored heat and renewable electricity. The Rondo Heat Battery (RHB) will use refractory bricks to store thermal energy captured from onsite solar and grid renewables supplied by EDP, then release it as steam — a process expected to deliver 7 MW of continuous steam when completed.

The system will replace gas‑fired boilers for steam generation and is scheduled to go live in April 2027. Heineken says the heat battery will allow the brewery to run 24/7 on renewable energy and help the company move toward its net‑zero goal by 2040 while supporting Portugal’s emissions‑reduction targets.

How the heat battery works

• Storage medium: Refractory bricks and ceramics capture and hold thermal energy at high temperatures.
• Charging: Excess renewable electricity (onsite solar and grid renewables) heats the bricks to store energy.
• Discharging: Stored heat is converted to steam on demand — here sized to supply 7 MW of steam to brewery processes.

Why this matters

Producing high‑temperature steam electrically is one of the toughest industrial electrification challenges. A large heat battery demonstrates a practical pathway to decarbonize steam‑heavy processes like brewing, reducing reliance on fossil gas and enabling flexible use of renewable power.

Project partners & operations

• Rondo supplies the heat battery technology (Rondo Heat Battery).
• EDP will provide renewable electricity and manage construction and operations of the system.
• Heineken will use the delivered steam across its Lisbon brewery operations.

Benefits and considerations

• Benefits: Large‑scale emissions reductions, integration of solar and grid renewables, and demonstration of heat battery viability for industry.
• Considerations: Project cost, materials lifecycle and long‑term durability, and how broadly this approach can scale across different industrial sites.

When operational in April 2027, the installation will be among the largest heat battery deployments in the beverage industry and a notable step toward electrifying industrial heat.

For more details and coverage, see the reporting from major tech outlets and company releases (check Heineken and Rondo press pages for updates).

Discussion: Could heat batteries replace gas boilers across industry — or are they best suited to specific sites like breweries? What would you want to know before adopting one at your facility?