Alternō – ASSIST
About
The Alternō – ASSIST in a Vietnam-based partnership that harnesses the power of sand to capture, store and distribute heat providing agricultural businesses with a cost-effective method that can save them up to 50% in drying costs.
Investing in Impact
P4G has awarded the partnership US $357,275 in grant funding.
Alternō is a venture capital backed Vietnamese startup that uses sand battery technology to efficiently convert electricity to thermal energy that can be stored in the sand at 600°C. The technology can several uses including drying agricultural products such as tea, coffee, rice and cocoa, and heating residential and commercial buildings.
Sand is heated to high temperatures using high-efficiency heating systems. A thick layer of insulation preserved the high temperature of the thermal energy that is stored in the sand. An air blower pushes air through a series of tubes inside the battery and the hot air that leaves the batter is heated to 100 - 300°C. The air is circulated in a drying chamber to dry agricultural products and saved up to 50% in drying costs. There is only an estimated thermal loss of 5% a day.
ASSIST, an international nonprofit, has experience in the energy sector and will help Alternō find customers in agro-processing. It will also support the startup with promotional activities and targeting marketing and communications campaigns to increase awareness of the technology and increase the customer base.
During the P4G funding period, Alternō aims to raise almost $4 million in additional investment. It will reduce or avoid more than 124,000 metric tons of carbon emissions and will onboard 10 new customers.
The partnership comprises the following partners: Alternō (lead business partner); ASSIST (lead administrative partner); New Energy Nexus; Antler; The Radical Fund; Touchstone; Impact Square; GlocaLink Singapore; JICA; Temasek Foundation.
Partners
