Antora Energy, a leader in zero-emissions industrial heat and power solutions, has been chosen by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) for negotiations toward a potential $14.5 million award. This funding, under the Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential (SCALEUP) program, aims to accelerate the launch of Antora’s combined heat and power thermal battery product. This initiative builds upon previous support from ARPA-E and will enable commercial-scale manufacturing of Antora’s innovative heat-to-power technology, with the potential for significant decarbonization impact in the industrial sector.
Over the last five years, Antora, with backing from ARPA-E, has advanced thermophotovoltaic (TPV) technology into a reliable, scalable solution for converting heat into electricity without moving parts, traditionally handled by complex and costly turbomachinery. Antora has achieved breakthrough efficiency in heat-to-electric conversion and established the world’s first dedicated TPV manufacturing line. These developments pave the way for rapid production of Antora’s combined heat and power product within U.S. facilities and a domestic supply chain.
As part of the SCALEUP award, Antora will collaborate with stakeholders to ensure its combined heat and power product meets the needs of industrial and utility customers. Antora has partnered with Con Edison to support clean heat and power goals in New York City and Westchester County. Additionally, a letter of intent with Shell aims to explore deploying the product in chemical production and other industrial processes.
“ARPA-E’s ongoing support has propelled Antora towards electrifying U.S. industry and beyond,” said Andrew Ponec, co-founder and CEO of Antora Energy. “By harnessing low-cost renewable electricity, thermal batteries already offer the most economical method to deliver industrial heat. Our TPV technology represents a revolutionary advancement in converting this heat into reliable and affordable electricity. This transformative funding enables us to expand TPV manufacturing capacity and accelerate the launch of Antora’s combined heat and power solution.”
Evelyn N. Wang, Director of ARPA-E, highlighted Antora Energy’s development of a high-efficiency thermophotovoltaic cell through an energy storage program focused on enhancing renewable generation asset utilization. With SCALEUP, Antora aims to scale up production, enabling cost-effective deployment of solid-state heat engines capable of supplying high-quality heat and power.
Antora utilizes renewable electricity to heat solid carbon blocks within an insulated battery module, leveraging this stored heat to meet large-scale industrial demands for temperature and scale. Alternatively, the heat can be converted directly into electricity using Antora’s TPV technology, addressing the energy needs of sectors such as food & beverage, paper products, chemicals, steel, and cement—sectors currently reliant on fossil fuels.
This funding follows Antora’s recent $150 million Series B financing round announced in February, supporting the company’s efforts to ramp up production of its first thermal battery product. Antora aims to provide billions of dollars in zero-emissions energy to industrial customers through its innovative solutions.
