Leading global manufacturer of high-quality graphite electrode products, GrafTech International, has partnered climate tech startup, Antora Energy, to develop and supply carbon-based materials for Antora’s thermal batteries, strengthening the domestic manufacturing base for American energy technology.
Antora’s thermal batteries store energy using carbon, the same material that has been produced in St. Marys, Pennsylvania, for generations.
With the strategic collaboration, Antora and GrafTech will develop carbon-based materials at GrafTech’s St. Marys facility for use in Antora’s battery modules, which help lower energy costs and make American factories more competitive.
The collaboration is already creating jobs in St. Marys, where GrafTech has restarted eight bake furnaces. Antora and GrafTech have hired new workers in St. Marys and are hiring a dozen more across plant operations, machining, maintenance, and a range of additional functions.
Explaining the partnership, chief executive officer and president of GrafTech International Ltd., Timothy Flanagan said “St. Marys has been an important part of GrafTech’s manufacturing footprint since we acquired the facility in 2010, and we are proud to partner with Antora to leverage the facility and our nearly 140 years of experience in carbon and synthetic graphite-based solutions.
“This partnership is expected to utilise a significant portion of the bake furnace capacity at St. Marys, creating an important new application for the facility while diversifying our end markets and supporting the growth of the domestic energy storage supply chain. We are particularly pleased that this opportunity builds on the skills and experience of the St. Marys workforce, and we look forward to growing our commercial relationship with Antora.”
Also, co-founder and chief executive of Antora Energy, Andrew Ponec said “by partnering with GrafTech to source carbon-based materials from their St. Marys facility, Antora is strengthening our domestic supply chain.
“GrafTech is a leading Pennsylvania manufacturer, and we’re excited to work with them to deliver affordable and reliable energy across the country. This is an investment in America’s energy leadership.”
Antora’s thermal batteries store low-cost electricity as heat in insulated blocks of solid carbon. This heat is then delivered around-the-clock as heat or electricity. The same factory-built modules can serve a chemical plant, a food producer, a steelmaker, a data center, or the grid, without supply-constrained critical minerals or multi-year construction timelines.
Carbon has been made in the United States for centuries, and is today widely used across steelmaking, aluminum production, and fireproofing applications.
The carbon blocks and insulation in Antora’s thermal batteries are made by heating lower-purity carbon feedstocks—such as petroleum coke and coal tar pitch—in high-temperature furnaces. As the industry scales, thermal energy storage has the potential to create major new markets for US petroleum and coal byproducts.
“This partnership builds upon the skilled workforce, infrastructure, and industrial experience that has made Pennsylvania a leader in our country’s energy future.
“GrafTech and Antora are creating good jobs in the commonwealth while helping build a domestic supply chain that supports American manufacturing and energy security. I’m proud to see this investment made in Elk County,” said Rep. Glenn.
This partnership comes on the heels of Antora’s oversubscribed $550 million Series C in late July this year. Antora in May announced the commissioning of Project Big Stone, one of the largest battery storage systems in the world. The project is already delivering affordable, round-the-clock energy to POET, the world’s largest producer of biofuels, at their Big Stone City, South Dakota facility.
Signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the parties intend to negotiate and execute definitive documentation regarding the strategic collaboration. The final agreements remain subject to negotiated terms and conditions.
Antora Energy delivers affordable, reliable energy to industry, data centers, and the grid. Antora’s thermal batteries turn low-cost electricity into always-on heat and power, without supply-constrained critical minerals or multi-year construction timelines. Antora is committed to strengthening American manufacturing, and its San Jose, California factory ranks among the country’s largest battery gigafactories.
With 140 years of experience in carbon science and manufacturing, GrafTech operates a competitive portfolio of large-scale, low-cost, ultra-high power graphite electrode facilities and is the only major graphite electrode producer vertically integrated into petroleum needle coke, its key raw material. This unique position provides important advantages in product quality, supply reliability, and cost competitiveness. Building on its core graphite electrode and needle coke capabilities, GrafTech also has deep experience in research and development, engineering and processing of specialised carbon and graphite materials supporting selected applications in industrial manufacturing, energy storage, anode materials, defense, and other emerging technologies.
