The global thermal energy storage market was valued at USD 6.40 billion in 2025. It is estimated to reach USD 7.20 billion in 2026 and USD 22.97 billion by 2036, expanding at a CAGR of 12.3% from 2026 to 2036. The report examines heat demand, electrification pathways, district energy networks, storage and heat-to-power technologies, levelized cost of heat, U.S. and EU policy, the project pipeline, the value chain, and competition.
Thermal energy storage refers to equipment that banks heat or cold for later release, so that energy can be taken in when it is cheap or abundant and delivered when users need it. The scope includes sensible heat stores using molten salt, water, or solid media (carbon, brick and ceramic, concrete and rock, and sand), latent heat stores using ice and other phase change materials, and thermochemical systems. Durations covered range from storage cycled within a day to multi-day and seasonal stores, and temperatures range from below 100 degrees Celsius for buildings to above 1,000 degrees Celsius for some industrial units. Electrochemical batteries and pumped hydro fall outside the study.
The case for storing heat rests on the size of heat demand, which the International Energy Agency (IEA) puts at almost half of the world's final energy consumption, and industry still meets most of its process heat needs with fossil fuels. Developers are now proving the technology at commercial size: Antora Energy reported that its 50-megawatt, 5-gigawatt-hour carbon-block installation at POET's Big Stone City plant in South Dakota went from first construction to commissioning in less than 12 months, and the company went on to raise USD 550 million in Series C funding in 2026. On the power side, molten salt storage already lets concentrated solar plants such as Dubai's 950-megawatt Noor Energy 1 run for 15 hours without sunlight.
Adoption is held back by capital costs that are high relative to gas boilers, whose economics improved again as gas prices eased from their 2022 highs. Electrified heat also depends on cheap power and sizable grid connections, and interconnection queues can add years to a project. When stored heat is turned back into electricity, turbines and thermophotovoltaic cells recover far less of the input energy than lithium-ion batteries do, which confines thermal storage in power markets mostly to long durations and concentrated solar power. Changes to U.S. clean energy credits in July 2025 and volatile EU carbon prices create policy risk. The industry must also manage site and process integration, limited operating histories that make lenders cautious, wear on salts, refractories, and phase change media over thousands of charge cycles, and rivalry from heat pumps and batteries.
The clearest opportunities lie in electrified steam for process industries, where Antora is joined by Rondo Energy, Kraftblock, Brenmiller Energy, and Kyoto Group in supplying steam and hot air to plants, and in data centers, which can both cool more cheaply with chilled water or ice storage and send waste heat into district networks; the IEA expects data center electricity use to reach about 945 terawatt-hours by 2030. Concentrated solar power with long-duration molten salt storage is another opening in sunny regions that need evening supply. Main trends include the fast scale-up of modular heat batteries and their factories, very large seasonal stores such as the 90-gigawatt-hour Varanto project due in 2028, wider use of cheap solid media such as sand, rock, and carbon, and hybrid heat systems that pair storage with heat pumps and electric boilers.
Based on technology, the market is segmented into molten salt, water-based storage (tank, pit & cavern, and aquifer & borehole), solid media (carbon, brick & ceramic, concrete & rock, and sand), latent heat & phase change materials (ice storage and other phase change materials), and thermochemical storage. Water-based storage is set to lead the market in 2026, because water tanks, pits, and chilled water plants are inexpensive, technically mature, and installed in large numbers across district heating, district cooling, and commercial buildings. Solid media is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, led by industrial heat batteries built from carbon blocks, bricks, crushed rock, or sand, which tolerate very high temperatures, are non-toxic, and avoid the supply constraints of battery metals. Molten salt continues to anchor storage at concentrated solar plants.
Based on storage duration, the market is segmented into short-duration (up to 10 hours), long-duration (10 to 100 hours), and seasonal storage. Short-duration systems are set to lead in 2026, as daily load shifting in buildings, district networks, and factories is the most common use, with storage charged during off-peak or high-renewable hours and emptied the same day. Seasonal storage is projected to register the highest CAGR, supported by flagship projects such as Varanto, whose three caverns will hold 1.1 million cubic meters of pressurized water, and by the need to move summer heat into winter as district heating decarbonizes.
Based on temperature range, the market is segmented into low temperature (below 100°C), medium temperature (100-400°C), and high temperature (above 400°C). Low-temperature storage is expected to lead in 2026, since district heating, building cooling, and domestic hot water make up the bulk of installed capacity. High-temperature storage is projected to grow at the highest CAGR, as industrial heat batteries are adopted to supply high-pressure steam and direct process heat that heat pumps cannot easily deliver.
Based on application, the market is segmented into industrial process heat (steam generation and hot air & direct process heat), district heating & cooling, power generation (concentrated solar power and power-to-heat-to-power), buildings HVAC, and data centers. District heating & cooling is set to remain the largest application in 2026, given the long history of storage in district energy schemes in Europe and Asia and the scale of individual stores. Industrial process heat is projected to grow at the highest CAGR, as factories replace fuel-fired steam with thermal batteries and the first commercial projects lead to repeat orders. Data centers are a newer application that combines cooling storage with heat export.
Based on end user, the market is segmented into industrial (food & beverage, chemicals, pulp & paper, and bioprocessing & other industries), utilities & district energy operators, commercial, and residential. Utilities & district energy operators are set to be the largest end user group in 2026, owing to their large district heating stores and the molten salt systems at concentrated solar plants. The industrial segment is projected to record the highest CAGR, as processors in food, chemicals, and bioprocessing invest in electrified process heat to meet emissions goals and take advantage of falling renewable power prices.
Europe is set to remain the largest regional market in 2026, supported by extensive district heating, carbon pricing, and policies that reward renewable heat and waste heat recovery. Finland hosts both the Varanto project and Polar Night Energy, whose sand-based store in Pornainen holds about 100 megawatt-hours for a local heating network, while Denmark runs large pit stores for district heating. Industrial storage developers Kraftblock in Germany and Kyoto Group and EnergyNest in Norway strengthen the regional supply base.
North America is projected to record the fastest growth through 2036, as industrial heat batteries scale quickly and federal incentives improve project returns. Antora doubled output at its San Jose factory in spring 2026 and is planning a second U.S. plant, Rondo Energy and others have industrial projects under way, the Inflation Reduction Act made thermal storage eligible for investment tax credits, and ice and chilled water systems are common on U.S. campuses and in commercial buildings. Asia-Pacific also accounts for a significant share, with China contributing through concentrated solar projects with molten salt storage and its northern district heating systems, with further demand from cooling storage in Japan and South Korea and from solar thermal projects in Australia, such as Vast's 30-megawatt plant at Port Augusta. Chile's 110-megawatt Cerro Dominador plant, with 17.5 hours of storage, anchors Latin America, while the Middle East & Africa is expected to grow strongly on the back of large solar complexes in the UAE and Morocco and Gulf investment in district cooling.
The market is fragmented across several groups of suppliers: venture-funded heat battery developers, engineering firms that build molten salt storage for solar plants, district heating storage specialists, manufacturers of ice and chilled water storage for buildings, phase change material suppliers, and developers of power-to-heat-to-power systems. Competitive factors include storage cost per kilowatt-hour, achievable temperature, efficiency, durability, speed of deployment, ease of integration with plant processes, bankability, and access to finance and incentives. Leading players are adding factory capacity, winning larger industrial and utility contracts, arranging project finance, and offering storage bundled with boilers, heat pumps, and clean power, as shown by Antora's 2026 funding round and factory expansion.
Key companies profiled in the report include Antora Energy, Inc. (U.S.), Rondo Energy, Inc. (U.S.), Kraftblock GmbH (Germany), Brenmiller Energy Ltd. (Israel), Kyoto Group AS (Norway), EnergyNest AS (Norway), Electrified Thermal Solutions, Inc. (U.S.), Polar Night Energy Oy (Finland), Malta Inc. (U.S.), DN Tanks, Inc. (U.S.), Trane Technologies plc (CALMAC) (Ireland/U.S.), Baltimore Aircoil Company, Inc. (U.S.), Aalborg CSP A/S (Denmark), SENER Group (Spain), and Cosin Solar Technology Co., Ltd. (China).
Thermal energy storage refers to equipment that banks heat or cold for later release, so that energy can be taken in when it is cheap or abundant and delivered when users need it. The scope includes sensible heat stores using molten salt, water, or solid media (carbon, brick and ceramic, concrete and rock, and sand), latent heat stores using ice and other phase change materials, and thermochemical systems. Durations covered range from storage cycled within a day to multi-day and seasonal stores, and temperatures range from below 100 degrees Celsius for buildings to above 1,000 degrees Celsius for some industrial units. Electrochemical batteries and pumped hydro fall outside the study.
The case for storing heat rests on the size of heat demand, which the International Energy Agency (IEA) puts at almost half of the world's final energy consumption, and industry still meets most of its process heat needs with fossil fuels. Developers are now proving the technology at commercial size: Antora Energy reported that its 50-megawatt, 5-gigawatt-hour carbon-block installation at POET's Big Stone City plant in South Dakota went from first construction to commissioning in less than 12 months, and the company went on to raise USD 550 million in Series C funding in 2026. On the power side, molten salt storage already lets concentrated solar plants such as Dubai's 950-megawatt Noor Energy 1 run for 15 hours without sunlight.
Market Dynamics
Industrial decarbonization is the leading driver, as food and beverage, chemical, paper, and bioprocessing plants burn fuel for steam and hot air, and a thermal battery lets them buy renewable electricity during low-price hours and still supply heat around the clock. The second driver is the rising share of wind and solar, which creates hours of very cheap or negative power; storing that surplus as heat gives grids flexible load, as with the two 60-megawatt electric boilers that will charge Vantaa Energy's Varanto store in Finland. District heating and waste heat recovery form the third driver, since networks must bridge large daily and seasonal gaps, with Nordic heat use in summer dropping to roughly a tenth of winter peak demand, and the EU's revised Energy Efficiency Directive now requires large data centers to reuse waste heat where feasible.Adoption is held back by capital costs that are high relative to gas boilers, whose economics improved again as gas prices eased from their 2022 highs. Electrified heat also depends on cheap power and sizable grid connections, and interconnection queues can add years to a project. When stored heat is turned back into electricity, turbines and thermophotovoltaic cells recover far less of the input energy than lithium-ion batteries do, which confines thermal storage in power markets mostly to long durations and concentrated solar power. Changes to U.S. clean energy credits in July 2025 and volatile EU carbon prices create policy risk. The industry must also manage site and process integration, limited operating histories that make lenders cautious, wear on salts, refractories, and phase change media over thousands of charge cycles, and rivalry from heat pumps and batteries.
The clearest opportunities lie in electrified steam for process industries, where Antora is joined by Rondo Energy, Kraftblock, Brenmiller Energy, and Kyoto Group in supplying steam and hot air to plants, and in data centers, which can both cool more cheaply with chilled water or ice storage and send waste heat into district networks; the IEA expects data center electricity use to reach about 945 terawatt-hours by 2030. Concentrated solar power with long-duration molten salt storage is another opening in sunny regions that need evening supply. Main trends include the fast scale-up of modular heat batteries and their factories, very large seasonal stores such as the 90-gigawatt-hour Varanto project due in 2028, wider use of cheap solid media such as sand, rock, and carbon, and hybrid heat systems that pair storage with heat pumps and electric boilers.
Segment Analysis
Six segmentations are analyzed, namely technology, storage duration, temperature range, application, end user, and geography, so that readers can see which storage types and use cases will capture the most value.Based on technology, the market is segmented into molten salt, water-based storage (tank, pit & cavern, and aquifer & borehole), solid media (carbon, brick & ceramic, concrete & rock, and sand), latent heat & phase change materials (ice storage and other phase change materials), and thermochemical storage. Water-based storage is set to lead the market in 2026, because water tanks, pits, and chilled water plants are inexpensive, technically mature, and installed in large numbers across district heating, district cooling, and commercial buildings. Solid media is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, led by industrial heat batteries built from carbon blocks, bricks, crushed rock, or sand, which tolerate very high temperatures, are non-toxic, and avoid the supply constraints of battery metals. Molten salt continues to anchor storage at concentrated solar plants.
Based on storage duration, the market is segmented into short-duration (up to 10 hours), long-duration (10 to 100 hours), and seasonal storage. Short-duration systems are set to lead in 2026, as daily load shifting in buildings, district networks, and factories is the most common use, with storage charged during off-peak or high-renewable hours and emptied the same day. Seasonal storage is projected to register the highest CAGR, supported by flagship projects such as Varanto, whose three caverns will hold 1.1 million cubic meters of pressurized water, and by the need to move summer heat into winter as district heating decarbonizes.
Based on temperature range, the market is segmented into low temperature (below 100°C), medium temperature (100-400°C), and high temperature (above 400°C). Low-temperature storage is expected to lead in 2026, since district heating, building cooling, and domestic hot water make up the bulk of installed capacity. High-temperature storage is projected to grow at the highest CAGR, as industrial heat batteries are adopted to supply high-pressure steam and direct process heat that heat pumps cannot easily deliver.
Based on application, the market is segmented into industrial process heat (steam generation and hot air & direct process heat), district heating & cooling, power generation (concentrated solar power and power-to-heat-to-power), buildings HVAC, and data centers. District heating & cooling is set to remain the largest application in 2026, given the long history of storage in district energy schemes in Europe and Asia and the scale of individual stores. Industrial process heat is projected to grow at the highest CAGR, as factories replace fuel-fired steam with thermal batteries and the first commercial projects lead to repeat orders. Data centers are a newer application that combines cooling storage with heat export.
Based on end user, the market is segmented into industrial (food & beverage, chemicals, pulp & paper, and bioprocessing & other industries), utilities & district energy operators, commercial, and residential. Utilities & district energy operators are set to be the largest end user group in 2026, owing to their large district heating stores and the molten salt systems at concentrated solar plants. The industrial segment is projected to record the highest CAGR, as processors in food, chemicals, and bioprocessing invest in electrified process heat to meet emissions goals and take advantage of falling renewable power prices.
Regional Analysis
The report covers North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa, with country-level analysis of 21 countries and four rest-of-region groups. The assessment weighs heating and cooling demand, network coverage, industrial energy use, power prices, solar resources, and incentives.Europe is set to remain the largest regional market in 2026, supported by extensive district heating, carbon pricing, and policies that reward renewable heat and waste heat recovery. Finland hosts both the Varanto project and Polar Night Energy, whose sand-based store in Pornainen holds about 100 megawatt-hours for a local heating network, while Denmark runs large pit stores for district heating. Industrial storage developers Kraftblock in Germany and Kyoto Group and EnergyNest in Norway strengthen the regional supply base.
North America is projected to record the fastest growth through 2036, as industrial heat batteries scale quickly and federal incentives improve project returns. Antora doubled output at its San Jose factory in spring 2026 and is planning a second U.S. plant, Rondo Energy and others have industrial projects under way, the Inflation Reduction Act made thermal storage eligible for investment tax credits, and ice and chilled water systems are common on U.S. campuses and in commercial buildings. Asia-Pacific also accounts for a significant share, with China contributing through concentrated solar projects with molten salt storage and its northern district heating systems, with further demand from cooling storage in Japan and South Korea and from solar thermal projects in Australia, such as Vast's 30-megawatt plant at Port Augusta. Chile's 110-megawatt Cerro Dominador plant, with 17.5 hours of storage, anchors Latin America, while the Middle East & Africa is expected to grow strongly on the back of large solar complexes in the UAE and Morocco and Gulf investment in district cooling.
Competitive Landscape
The report provides a detailed review of the competitive landscape, covering key growth strategies, competitive benchmarking, a competitive dashboard positioning players in four quadrants, and a 2025 market share/rank analysis. Company profiles include business and financial overviews, product portfolios, strategic developments, and SWOT analysis.The market is fragmented across several groups of suppliers: venture-funded heat battery developers, engineering firms that build molten salt storage for solar plants, district heating storage specialists, manufacturers of ice and chilled water storage for buildings, phase change material suppliers, and developers of power-to-heat-to-power systems. Competitive factors include storage cost per kilowatt-hour, achievable temperature, efficiency, durability, speed of deployment, ease of integration with plant processes, bankability, and access to finance and incentives. Leading players are adding factory capacity, winning larger industrial and utility contracts, arranging project finance, and offering storage bundled with boilers, heat pumps, and clean power, as shown by Antora's 2026 funding round and factory expansion.
Key companies profiled in the report include Antora Energy, Inc. (U.S.), Rondo Energy, Inc. (U.S.), Kraftblock GmbH (Germany), Brenmiller Energy Ltd. (Israel), Kyoto Group AS (Norway), EnergyNest AS (Norway), Electrified Thermal Solutions, Inc. (U.S.), Polar Night Energy Oy (Finland), Malta Inc. (U.S.), DN Tanks, Inc. (U.S.), Trane Technologies plc (CALMAC) (Ireland/U.S.), Baltimore Aircoil Company, Inc. (U.S.), Aalborg CSP A/S (Denmark), SENER Group (Spain), and Cosin Solar Technology Co., Ltd. (China).
How This Report Helps
- Delivers dependable market sizing and a ten-year forecast for the global thermal energy storage market.
- Shows how industrial decarbonization, cheap renewable power, and district heating growth translate into storage demand.
- Evaluates cost, efficiency, grid access, policy, and durability barriers that affect project economics.
- Pinpoints the fastest-growing technologies, durations, temperature bands, applications, end users, and regions.
- Tracks heat battery scale-up, seasonal storage projects, solid-media innovation, and hybrid heat systems.
- Compares leading heat battery, seasonal storage, cooling storage, and molten salt suppliers on technology and strategy.
- Supports technology selection, procurement, project development, partnership, and investment decisions for industrial users, utilities, suppliers, and investors.
Key Questions Answered
- What is the current size of the global thermal energy storage market, and what growth is expected through 2036?
- How do thermal batteries stack up against fuel-fired boilers, heat pumps, and electrochemical storage on cost and performance?
- Which drivers, restraints, opportunities, challenges, and trends are most important for market participants?
- Which industries are adopting electrified steam and process heat first, and why?
- What role can very large seasonal stores and recovered data center heat play in future heating networks?
- Which technology, duration, temperature range, application, and end user segments offer the strongest growth?
- Which regions and countries present the best opportunities for storage suppliers and developers?
- Which companies lead the market, and what are their competitive strengths?
- What projects, funding rounds, and factory expansions are shaping competition?
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Research Methodology
4. Market Overview
5. Thermal Energy Storage Market, by Technology
6. Thermal Energy Storage Market, by Storage Duration
7. Thermal Energy Storage Market, by Temperature Range
8. Thermal Energy Storage Market, by Application
9. Thermal Energy Storage Market, by End User
10. Thermal Energy Storage Market, by Geography
11. Competitive Landscape
12. Company Profiles
13. Appendix
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF FIGURES
Companies Mentioned
- Antora Energy, Inc.
- Rondo Energy, Inc.
- Kraftblock GmbH
- Brenmiller Energy Ltd.
- Kyoto Group AS
- EnergyNest AS
- Electrified Thermal Solutions, Inc.
- Polar Night Energy Oy
- Malta Inc.
- DN Tanks, Inc.
- Trane Technologies plc
- Baltimore Aircoil Company, Inc.
- Aalborg CSP A/S
- SENER Group
- Cosin Solar Technology Co., Ltd.
