The University of Minnesota Morris is the first university in the United States to deploy thermochemical energy storage technology to heat a building
Rural Minnesota has plenty of storage—grain bins, grain elevators, mountains of dried corn, propane tanks, ammonia nurse tanks, and even large ammonia storage facilities. Sustainability leaders at the University of Minnesota Morris wondered, how could we add heat storage to the mix of things we store in rural Minnesota? And could we use that clean energy to heat the campus?
The UMN Morris campus is like a small city with two big energy demands: electricity and heating. Currently, over 60% of the campus’ electrical energy is already produced on-site from wind turbines and solar panels. But, the real energy challenge in cold climates is heating. The campus uses four times more energy for heating than for electricity.
Campus leaders were interested in participating in a pilot project and partnership to learn more about thermal battery solutions, which led the campus to Grid Catalyst.
Grid Catalyst is a nationally-recognized energy startup accelerator based in Minnesota. The organization leads the Demonstration Cohort program that partnered UMN Morris and Cache Energy. Grid Catalyst matches cutting-edge energy companies with Minnesota partners like UMN Morris to demonstrate innovative solutions. Cache Energy was selected for the demonstration program because of its unique and effective solution for thermal storage.
Nina Axelson, president and founder of Grid Catalyst shares, “Clean energy leaders like UMN Morris enable us to attract the best and brightest in the country to deploy their technologies in Minnesota. Without partners like this, willing to step up as demonstration sites, even the most phenomenal solutions can fail to make it to the market.”
Cache is pioneering an innovative approach to storing energy. At the heart of Cache’s technology are limestone-derived pellets, which are packed into a container. When a stream of moist air is passed through the container of pellets, the pellets get very, very hot. The pellets are so hot that the heat from the pellets can be used to make hot air or even vaporize water to make steam. The process is also reversible. The wet pellets are then dried with renewable electricity. At this point, the dry pellets are ready to make heat whenever needed again. You can literally have a big silo filled with energy pellets, like corn kernels.
The Cache heating skid was delivered to the Morris campus in mid-March and is located next to the Carpentry Shop. Inside the heating skid, Cache installed a container filled with the pellets. The skid was scaled-down for a demonstration at building scale and will run for several months during winter and spring 2026.
This thermal storage technology project is part of the UMN Center for Renewable Energy Storage Technology, or CREST.
According to UMN Morris Vice Chancellor of Finance and Facilities Bryan Herrmann, “Our goal is to power our campus with renewables. This project will help us better understand our options for clean heating. We want UMN Morris to be a place where entrepreneurs can pilot their technology.”
The Cache technology is both an innovative and pragmatic solution to decarbonizing heating systems, which has an incredible impact for the campus, but is also primed to be a global solution.
“We are excited to partner with UMN Morris and Grid Catalyst on this project—to the best of our knowledge, this is the first installation of thermochemical storage technology at a U.S. university. As part of a growing series of Cache deployments across North America, this project will demonstrate how green electrons can deliver reliable, cost-effective heat to buildings,” explains Cache Energy Founder Arpit Dwivedi.
The project is also supported locally by the West Central Clean Energy Resource Team (WC CERTs), “This is the first thermochemical energy storage project we have supported in our region. Our team is excited to see a project that uses local wind and solar to heat a building,” shares Imani Emenyonu, WC CERT coordinator.
This project was made possible through the support of the Minnesota Energy Alley initiative, the UMN West Central Clean Energy Resources Team, and the UMM Sustainable "Green" Fund. Minnesota Energy Alley is a public-private partnership led by Clean Energy Economy MN in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Commerce and Grid Catalyst. Via Grid Catalyst's Demonstration Cohort program, the initiative accelerates the commercialization of emerging energy technologies in the state, positioning Minnesota as a hub for energy innovation, advanced manufacturing, workforce development, and economic growth.