Energy Dome is a Milan-based deep tech scale-up transforming long-duration energy storage with its innovative CO2 Battery technology. Founded in 2020, this Italian company is making renewable energy dispatchable at scale by offering a cost-competitive alternative to lithium-ion batteries that can be deployed globally.

Energy Dome is a member of the EIC Scaling Club's Batteries & Energy Storage group, working alongside other innovative companies to accelerate Europe's – and the world’s – energy transition.

Operational technology that’s ready to scale

Energy Dome's core innovation is its CO2 Battery, a long-duration energy storage technology that delivers clean power without the premium costs typically associated with sustainable solutions. The technology operates through a thermo-mechanical cycle – it charges by drawing carbon dioxide from a dome-shaped gasholder, stores it under pressure, and then dispatches it by evaporating and expanding the gas through a turbine back into the gasholder.

The company has a megawatt-scale plant already operational and grid-connected, demonstrating the commercial viability of its technology. The system achieves round-trip efficiency of over 75% with no degradation over time, and boasts a lifetime of more than 30 years avoiding performance fall-off – unlike lithium-ion batteries that degrade significantly over their shorter lifespan of less than 12 years.

A key advantage of Energy Dome's technology is its reliance on off-the-shelf components and sustainable materials. The CO2 Battery is constructed using steel, water, and carbon dioxide – materials readily available worldwide from multiple Tier 1 suppliers – producing zero CO2 emissions during operation as the gas circulates in a closed loop system. The modular and scalable design means the same configuration can be deployed anywhere in the world, with each standard 200 MWh unit requiring approximately 5 hectares of relatively flat land and only a medium-voltage electrical connection to operate.

A supercharged team with proven track record

Energy Dome was founded in Milan in February 2020 by three entrepreneurs who had been working together for over 15 years: Claudio Spadacini (Founder & CEO), Dario Rizzi (Co-founder & CTO), and Francesco Oppici (Co-founder & CCO).

The founding team brings substantial experience in developing, designing, and building power plants. In previous ventures, they successfully delivered more than 500 MW of geothermal, heat recovery, concentrated solar power, biogas, and biomass power plants based on proprietary innovative technologies. This extensive background in power generation provides Energy Dome with practical expertise in taking complex energy technologies from concept to operational deployment at scale.

This combination of entrepreneurial experience and technical expertise has enabled Energy Dome to move quickly from concept to commercial deployment, positioning the company as what they describe as “a scale-up company with 15 years of experience on our shoulders”.

Energy Dome: A well-known name in the industry

Energy Dome has demonstrated rapid commercial traction since its founding. The company closed a €10 million Series A in its early stages, followed by €17.5 million from the European Innovation Council to support CO2 Battery deployment. In 2024, Energy Dome expanded its oversubscribed Series B financing round to a total of €55 million, providing substantial capital to scale operations globally.

The company's commercial momentum has been equally impressive. Energy Dome signed its first U.S. contract with Alliant Energy for commercial-scale deployment and recently announced an industry-first partnership with Google to deploy the CO2 Battery for achieving carbon-free energy at scale. The company has expanded internationally with offices across the Americas and Australia, while earning recognition as LDES Company of the Year at the Energy Storage Awards, receiving the Innovation Champion award from the European Investment Bank, and being named to Cleantech Group's 2024 Global Cleantech 100.

Mission-driven innovation for global impact

Energy Dome operates with a clear mission: to accelerate the world's transition to renewable energy by making it as reliable and dispatchable as conventional generation. The company's approach emphasises practical deployment over theoretical promises, focusing on solutions that can be implemented today rather than technologies that may become viable in the future.

Through their membership in the EIC Scaling Club, Energy Dome continues to build connections within Europe's deep tech ecosystem while demonstrating that Italian innovation can lead in the global energy transition. With operational plants already proving the technology's viability and a clear pathway to global deployment, what Energy Dome represents is a tangible solution to one of the most pressing challenges in renewable energy adoption.

About the EIC Scaling Club

The EIC Scaling Club is a curated community where 120+ European deep tech scale-ups with the potential to build world-class businesses and solve major global challenges come together with investors, corporate innovators and other industry stakeholders to spur growth.

The top 120+ European deep tech companies will be carefully selected from a pool of high-growth scale-ups that have benefitted from EIC financial schemes, other European and national innovation programmes, and beyond.

The EIC Scaling Club is an EIC-funded initiative run in partnership by Tech Tour, Bpifrance (EuroQuity), Hello Tomorrow, Tech.eu (Webrazzi), EurA and IESE Business School.

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