Francesco Oppici, co-founder and CCO of Carbon dioxide-based long-duration energy storage (LDES) company Energy Dome tied the commercialisation path of LDES to data centres.
Oppici’s comments were delivered 30 April, alongside Lucy Metzroth, principal innovation technology consultant, corporate development, at utility Xcel Energy, at market research firm Wood Mackenzie Power and Renewables’ Solar & Energy Storage Summit, in Colorado, US.
Metzroth and Oppici spoke with Kasim Khan, senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie, during the ‘Keynote fireside chat: The challenges of scaling emerging LDES technologies’ discussion.
Italy-based Energy Dome uses a CO2 battery with a set of gas compression and turbine equipment held inside of a dome-like structure.
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The battery stores energy based on the adiabatic compression of carbon dioxide, which is liquified during charging and evaporated as it discharges. Heat given off during compression is stored and expands the gas, driving the turbines to generate power.
Earlier in April, the company signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with digital infrastructure company New Era Energy & Digital (NUAI) to deploy its Battery Plus technology in Odessa, Texas.
According to Energy Dome, the Battery Plus technology combines waste heat recovery with energy storage. It uses waste heat directly from open-cycle gas turbine exhaust during discharge, which the company claims eliminates the need for prior heat storage. It further claims that this method enhances efficiency, offers combined-cycle-like performance, and reduces costs.
Research and consultancy firm Sightline Climate has also ranked the company as the top non-lithium LDES company on its LDES leaderboard.
At the Wood Mackenzie discussion, Oppici claimed that because Energy Dome does not use any Chinese-sourced materials, it is cost competitive with equipment from China, but it also qualifies for the investment tax credit (ITC).
LDES deployment
When asked by Khan where Energy Dome and other LDES technology is seeing traction, Oppici said, “In the last couple of years we have seen mainly here in the US, the eight hour application, being used to bring capacity for data centres.”
Metzroth added, “We see a huge opportunity with large load customers as well, and they need speed to power, things that are available. We’re very interested in other things like geothermal or nuclear, but we need to be able to deploy capacity right now.”
Khan asked Metzroth, “You’re saying LDES is perhaps more quickly deployed right now than nuclear or geothermal?”, to which Metzroth responded “Absolutely.”
Of course, the promising potential of a technology is not, on its own, enough to convince utilities like Xcel to pursue their use.
Metzroth’s advice is to scale up slowly, it “Shows you know how to manage a project, and actually deliver on your promises, that is very important to (utilities).”
Oppici noted that this strategy has played a role in helping Energy Dome secure projects. The company started with smaller scale projects in Europe before moving to the larger scale projects it typically does now.
Data centres
The previously mentioned MOU with NUAI in Odessa is likely to represent one of these larger projects. While Energy Dome has not stated what the size of this project will be, NUAI specified that the parties will evaluate how Energy Dome’s battery can support NUAI’s 1GW data centre.
This also highlights a larger trend of data centres utilising LDES technology, as seen in Meta and US ‘multi-day’ energy storage startup Noon Energy’s 1GW/100GWh data centre deal, and another announcement, last year, from Energy Dome, that Google would be investing its technology.
A question from the audience, relayed by Khan, focused on how LDES technology can scale outside of data centre development.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think at the moment, that there is structural revenue in place that can actually justify development outside of that firm capacity,” Oppici said.
Metzroth, in turn, noted that structural changes need to happen in order to utilise LDES beyond data centres. “There’s not really a marketing mechanism for value stacking at all. When you’re saying, ‘Look this LDES can do all these different things. It has all these different services, you know?’ Well, that’s great, but we don’t get paid for it,” she explained.
Facts Only
Francesco Oppici, co-founder and CCO of Energy Dome, discussed the commercialization of long-duration energy storage (LDES) at the Wood Mackenzie Solar & Energy Storage Summit on April 30 in Colorado, US.
Energy Dome is an Italy-based company using a CO2 battery system with gas compression and turbine equipment inside a dome-like structure.
The battery stores energy through adiabatic compression of carbon dioxide, which is liquified during charging and evaporated during discharge.
In April, Energy Dome signed an MOU with New Era Energy & Digital (NUAI) to deploy its Battery Plus technology in Odessa, Texas.
Battery Plus combines waste heat recovery with energy storage, using exhaust heat from gas turbines to enhance efficiency.
Sightline Climate ranked Energy Dome as the top non-lithium LDES company on its leaderboard.
Oppici stated that Energy Dome does not use Chinese-sourced materials, making it cost-competitive and eligible for U.S. investment tax credits.
Oppici noted that LDES is primarily seeing traction in the U.S. for eight-hour applications supporting data centers.
Lucy Metzroth of Xcel Energy emphasized the need for quickly deployable capacity solutions, favoring LDES over slower alternatives like nuclear or geothermal.
Metzroth advised that scaling up slowly demonstrates project management capability, which is important to utilities.
Energy Dome’s project with NUAI in Odessa will evaluate supporting a 1GW data center.
Oppici stated that current market structures do not justify LDES deployment outside of firm capacity needs.
Metzroth highlighted the lack of market mechanisms to compensate for the multiple services LDES can provide.
Executive Summary
Energy Dome, an Italian company specializing in carbon dioxide-based long-duration energy storage (LDES), is positioning its technology as a solution for data centers and large load customers. The company’s CO2 battery system uses adiabatic compression to store energy, with heat recovery enhancing efficiency. During a recent industry discussion, Energy Dome’s co-founder Francesco Oppici highlighted the technology’s cost competitiveness, particularly due to its lack of reliance on Chinese-sourced materials, which qualifies it for U.S. investment tax credits. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with New Era Energy & Digital (NUAI) to deploy its Battery Plus technology in Odessa, Texas, supporting a 1GW data center. While LDES shows promise for data centers, industry experts note that broader adoption faces challenges, including the lack of revenue structures to justify deployment beyond firm capacity needs. Utilities like Xcel Energy emphasize the importance of scalable, deployable solutions, with LDES currently outpacing slower-to-deploy alternatives like nuclear or geothermal. However, structural changes in energy markets are needed to fully realize LDES’s potential beyond niche applications.
The discussion also revealed a growing trend of data centers adopting LDES, with companies like Meta and Google exploring similar technologies. Despite this momentum, questions remain about how LDES can scale beyond data centers, as current market mechanisms do not adequately compensate for the multiple services these systems can provide. Energy Dome’s strategy of starting with smaller projects in Europe before scaling up has helped secure larger deployments, but broader industry adoption hinges on regulatory and economic frameworks evolving to recognize LDES’s multifaceted value.
Full Take
The narrative around Energy Dome’s LDES technology presents a compelling case for its role in supporting data centers, but it also reveals deeper tensions in the energy transition. The strongest version of this story is that LDES offers a scalable, cost-effective solution for firm capacity needs, particularly in high-demand sectors like data centers, where reliability and speed of deployment are critical. Energy Dome’s strategy of avoiding Chinese-sourced materials aligns with geopolitical and economic incentives, such as U.S. tax credits, which could accelerate adoption. However, the discussion also exposes a key limitation: the lack of market structures to reward LDES for its full range of services, such as grid stability and renewable integration. This gap suggests that while LDES is technically promising, its broader viability depends on regulatory and economic frameworks evolving to recognize its multifaceted value.
The pattern here echoes a common challenge in energy innovation: technologies often emerge ahead of the market mechanisms needed to sustain them. The focus on data centers as a primary use case may reflect a pragmatic path to commercialization, but it also risks narrowing the perceived applicability of LDES. If the narrative were part of a coordinated influence campaign, it might emphasize the urgency of LDES adoption while downplaying the systemic barriers to scaling—such as the need for policy changes or utility incentives. However, the actual content acknowledges these challenges, particularly through Metzroth’s comments on the lack of revenue structures, which aligns with a more balanced assessment.
Root causes include the mismatch between technological readiness and market design, as well as the tension between immediate deployability and long-term systemic change. The implications for human agency are significant: without structural adjustments, LDES may remain confined to niche applications, limiting its potential to support a broader energy transition. Who benefits? Early adopters like data centers and utilities with firm capacity needs. Who bears costs? Potentially, ratepayers or taxpayers if incentives are misaligned.
Bridge questions: What policy changes would enable LDES to compete beyond data centers? How might utilities and regulators collaborate to create value-stacking mechanisms? What lessons can be drawn from other energy storage technologies that faced similar scaling challenges?
Counterstrike scan: A bad actor pushing this narrative might overhype LDES as a silver bullet while ignoring market barriers, but the actual discussion includes candid acknowledgments of limitations, suggesting no structural alignment with manipulation patterns.
Patterns detected: none
Sentinel — Human
The analysis reads like grounded journalistic reporting, focusing on specific commercial claims and expert perspectives rather than abstract synthesis.