Guide to assessing low-emissions thermal energy storage released
Developed by the Heavy Industry Low-carbon Transition Cooperative Research Centre (HILT CRC) and commissioned by ARENA, a new guide on industrial thermal energy storage has been officially launched at the 2026 Australasian Renewable Heat Conference in Melbourne.
Australian industrial businesses considering thermal energy storage (TES) now have an easy-to-use five-step framework to help evaluate the technology for their operations, both technically and commercially.
Industrial process heat represents a major decarbonisation challenge. Australian industry used 234 TWh of process heat in 2022–23, with more than 80% supplied by fossil fuels and only around 3% electrified.
TES can help address this challenge by storing energy — including low-cost renewable electricity or waste heat — and supplying it as heat when industrial processes need it. However, evaluation requires careful technical and commercial assessment to ensure that TES meets a site’s process thermal needs and emissions targets at the lowest overall cost.
The new guide, Thermal Energy Storage for Industrial Process Heat: A Practical Guide is designed to help industrial managers undertake early-stage evaluation, project scoping and decision-making.
The five-step process guides users through:
- assessing whether their industrial process is suitable for TES
- comparing TES with other low-carbon heat technologies
- evaluating TES designs, integration options and potential vendors
- assessing electrical infrastructure requirements
- evaluating the commercial business case and pathway to investment.
HILT CRC CEO Jenny Selway said the framework was designed to make a complex investment decision more manageable for industrial heat users.
“Companies looking to decarbonise process heat face a rapidly evolving range of technologies and vendors and it can be difficult to know where to start,” she said. “The five-step framework provides a practical starting point: it helps businesses work systematically from understanding their own heat requirements through to process integration, infrastructure requirements, costs and ultimately the investment case.”
Carl Christiansen, General Manager of Grid and Storage at ARENA, said industrial heat remains one of the biggest opportunities to reduce emissions in Australian industry.
“A large share of the heat used by Australian industry still comes from fossil fuels, so businesses need practical tools to assess lower-emissions alternatives,” he said. “This guide helps companies assess whether thermal energy storage could be a good fit for their operations and gives them greater confidence to pursue lower-emissions heat solutions.”
The report and appendices are available through the ARENA Knowledge Bank.
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