POET, a South Dakota-headquartered company and the world’s largest producer of biofuels, has joined with Antora Energy to commission a 5-GWh, multi-day thermal energy storage system at POET’s bioprocessing facility in Big Stone City, South Dakota.
Antora is supplying batteries from the company’s recently expanded San Jose, California gigafactory. The companies earlier in May said the project, which supplies power for POET’s biofuel production, was completed in less than 12 months. The groups said it will be fully operational later this year, and noted it will rank among the world’s largest energy storage installations.
The companies said the project uses Antora’s technology to improve efficiency and lower costs at POET Bioprocessing-Big Stone. The groups did not provide the size of the investment for the project, but did say it has created and supported more than 300 manufacturing and construction jobs in rural South Dakota and in California, as it also has provided jobs at Antora’s San Jose factory, where all of the company’s thermal batteries are made.
Offtake Agreement
Antora’s system provides POET with 24/7 energy under a long-term heat offtake agreement. It enables the facility to increase bioethanol production, which primarily benefits farmers in South Dakota.
“POET is dedicated to supplying the world with affordable, American-made biofuels and bioproducts,” said Jeff Broin, POET founder and CEO. “Our nation’s energy future will be defined by innovation, and that’s exactly what we’re focused on—pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and delivering viable solutions that strengthen national security and rural economies. By investing in next-generation technologies, we’re leading the way to a biofuture powered by American energy.”
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“With this project, Antora is delivering affordable energy to POET—fast,” said Andrew Ponec, co-founder and CEO of Antora Energy. “We’re proud of what this deployment means for the workers who designed, built, and installed these batteries, and more broadly, for American manufacturing. This is what reindustrialization looks like— American innovation driving industrial competitiveness, domestic supply chains spanning a dozen states, and jobs from the factory floor to the construction site. And it’s all delivered at the speed required to meet soaring domestic energy demand.”
John Thune, a U.S. senator for South Dakota, said, “Homegrown energy sources create good-paying jobs, support our agriculture producers, and provide affordable options for consumers. I’m grateful for this impressive addition to South Dakota’s budding biofuels industry, and I can’t wait to see the benefits for South Dakota producers and families across our state.”
The companies said that Grok Ventures, an Australian investment firm, structured and provided the project-level financing as the sole external investor.
“Antora has built something genuinely compelling, a technology and a team capable of delivering affordable, reliable energy to American industry at real scale,” said Ridhaa Ahmed, head of Infrastructure and Private Equity at Grok Ventures. “Our conviction in the technology, the team, and the commercial fundamentals gave us the confidence to structure a financing solution befitting the project’s transformative nature. The commercial logic is strong, the opportunity consequential, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Antora as they scale this technology across America and the world.”
The South Dakota Board of Economic Development is a partner in the project. Antora’s technology has received funding for research and development from the U.S. Dept. of Energy.
Antora said it worked closely with Otter Tail Power—a Minnesota-headquartered utility that provides power to customers across South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota—to develop an innovative electric rate that enables the system to deliver 24/7 thermal energy without increasing costs for other electricity consumers. The rate structure was approved by the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission last year.
“What we’ve built in South Dakota shows Antora can deliver the reliable and affordable energy required for American competitiveness,” said Jordan Kearns, executive vice president of Project Development at Antora Energy. “We’re proud of what we’ve built with POET, and we’re ready to bring our solution to industrial facilities and data centers across America.”
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.
