Electric Bricks: The High-Heat Revolution for Greener, Cheaper Industry

SAN ANTONIO, TX – January 23, 2026 – In a significant leap forward for industrial decarbonization, Boston-based Electrified Thermal Solutions has officially switched on its first commercial-scale Joule Hive™ Thermal Battery. The multi-megawatt system, now operational at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, represents a pivotal moment in the quest to clean up heavy industry, one of the world's most challenging sectors to decarbonize.

This is no ordinary battery. Instead of storing electricity chemically, the Joule Hive™ converts it into immense heat, storing 20 megawatt-hours (MWh) within a stack of proprietary firebricks. It can deliver this energy on demand as hot gas at temperatures up to 1,800°C (3,275°F)—hot enough to tackle the most demanding industrial processes. The successful commissioning signals that a viable, cost-effective alternative to burning fossil fuels for high-temperature heat is no longer a future prospect, but a present-day reality.

The Fiery Problem of Industrial Heat

Industrial heat is the powerhouse of the modern economy, responsible for forging steel, making cement, producing chemicals, and even processing food. It accounts for roughly one-fifth of all global energy consumption, and a staggering 89% of it is generated by burning fossil fuels. This makes industrial processes a massive source of CO2 emissions, contributing about a quarter of greenhouse gases in the United States alone.

For decades, electrifying this heat, especially at the highest temperatures, has been a major hurdle. While electric heating is common in homes, replicating the near-flame temperatures required to melt steel or produce cement has been technologically difficult and economically prohibitive. Sectors like steel, cement, and glass manufacturing—often called “hard-to-abate”—require process heat well over 1,000°C, a threshold that has kept them tethered to natural gas and coal.

The Joule Hive™ shatters this thermal barrier. At its core are specially designed, electrically conductive firebricks. Developed from research at MIT, these bricks are a three-in-one marvel, functioning simultaneously as the heating element, the thermal storage medium, and the heat exchanger. When charged with electricity, the bricks themselves heat up through joule heating, reaching temperatures that rival fossil fuel combustion. This stored heat can then be released to produce hot air or steam for factory equipment. With a designed lifespan of over 20 years—far exceeding the 1-to-5-year life of many conventional firebricks—the system promises unprecedented durability and reliability.

Cheaper Than Gas: The New Economics of Electrification

While the environmental benefits are clear, the true disruption lies in the system's economics. Electrified Thermal Solutions is making a bold claim: its technology can deliver industrial heat cheaper than natural gas. This fundamentally alters the conversation from a green premium to a green discount.

"Industry has long been looking for a way to manage the rising costs and volatility of energy," said Daniel Stack, CEO and co-founder of Electrified Thermal Solutions. "With the Joule Hive™ Thermal Battery, manufacturers in food and beverage, minerals, chemicals, metals, and other industries can now use process heat at even the highest temperature levels derived from the lowest-cost electricity available."

The system's financial advantage comes from its ability to act as an energy arbitrage tool. It charges during off-peak hours when electricity from renewable sources like wind and solar is abundant and cheap—sometimes even free or negatively priced. In parts of the U.S. wind belt, for instance, electricity prices are negative for significant portions of the year. The Joule Hive™ allows factories to soak up this low-cost energy, store it efficiently (with over 95% thermal storage efficiency), and discharge it as heat whenever needed, insulating them from the volatile price swings of the natural gas market. Projections suggest industrial users could see savings of 15% to 30% on their heating bills.

Further cost savings are baked into the design. The system can connect directly to the 13.2 kV AC power lines common on industrial campuses, eliminating the need for expensive step-down transformers that other electric heating systems often require. This streamlined integration, combined with the use of common, commodity materials for the bricks, drives down both capital and operational costs.

From Factory Asset to Grid Stabilizer

The impact of this technology extends beyond the factory fence. By creating a massive, flexible new source of electricity demand, thermal batteries like the Joule Hive™ can play a crucial role in stabilizing the power grid. As grids become more reliant on intermittent renewables, managing the mismatch between when power is generated and when it's needed is a growing challenge. Industrial thermal batteries offer a solution by acting as a giant sponge, absorbing excess generation and reducing their pull from the grid during peak demand.

This demand-side flexibility is a valuable service for grid operators. Furthermore, the technology opens the door to transforming aging fossil fuel infrastructure. A Joule Hive™ can be retrofitted to a natural gas power plant, using cheap renewable electricity to store heat and then using that heat to drive the plant's turbines to generate power during high-demand periods. This application could achieve round-trip efficiencies greater than 60% at a fraction of the capital cost of large-scale lithium-ion battery installations, offering a pathway to decarbonize existing power assets.

A Backed Vision and a Clear Path to Market

Electrified Thermal's journey from an MIT lab to a commercial-scale deployment has been rapid and is backed by some of the world's largest industrial players. Global giants like Holcim (cement), Vale (mining), and ArcelorMittal (steel) are investors, signaling strong industry confidence in the technology's potential. The company has also received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to integrate its systems with partners 3M, Buzzi Unicem, and Amy's Kitchen, demonstrating its versatility across chemicals, cement, and food production.

The successful commissioning at SwRI is the final proof point before a full market push. With letters of intent already signed with customers, the company is targeting the start of commercial deployments in 2026. The ambition is immense: Electrified Thermal Solutions aims to deploy 2 gigawatts of thermal power capacity by 2030, a goal that would make a significant dent in industrial emissions and establish electric bricks as a cornerstone of the clean energy transition.