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Cache Energy’s white pellets are a proprietary material for storing heat through a reversible chemical reaction. They could help electrify some industrial heat now supplied by coal or natural gas, but the available evidence does not establish that they can replace those fuels at scale. The key questions are how the system performs in real operations and whether charging electricity is cheap enough to make delivered heat competitive.
What are Cache Energy’s white pellets?
Cache starts with calcium hydroxide, a material derived from limestone, and binds the powder into manageable pellets. The pellets are the storage medium in a thermochemical heat-storage system—not a consumer battery or a ready-to-use fuel. TechCrunch described the material and process in 2024 (TechCrunch, August 2024); Cache describes its current product on its official site.
How does the storage reaction work?
- Charge: Heat the calcium hydroxide pellets. They release water vapor and become calcium oxide, also called quicklime. Cache says the charging heat can come from grid electricity or renewable power.
- Store: Keep the charged material for later use. Because energy is held in the chemical reaction rather than simply in a hot mass, Cache says the material can be stored at ambient conditions and retain energy for long durations.
- Discharge: Reintroduce moisture. The calcium oxide reacts to form calcium hydroxide again, releasing heat in the process.
This differs from sensible-heat storage, which holds energy by keeping material such as sand or specially made bricks hot. Chemical storage may avoid the same need to insulate a hot mass, but that distinction alone does not establish lower system costs, better efficiency, or superior performance in a particular facility.
What performance has Cache reported?
The available figures come from different sources and dates, and they are not interchangeable guarantees. TechCrunch reported Cache founder Arpit Dwivedi’s figures in 2024; Cache’s website lists current company-stated parameters. Neither source is an independent performance evaluation.
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| Measure | What was reported | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| System efficiency | Around 95%, attributed to Dwivedi and reported by TechCrunch in 2024 | A company figure, not an independently measured result in that report. |
| Heat output | Up to 550°C, attributed to Dwivedi and reported by TechCrunch in 2024 | TechCrunch said Cache was then working on a version targeting 900°C; that was development-stage information at the time. |
| Pellet cost | About $0.20–$0.40 per kilowatt-hour at a production rate of about 500 kilowatt-hours per hour, attributed to Dwivedi and reported by TechCrunch in 2024 | This is not a full-system price or the cost of delivered heat. The economics also depend heavily on the price of charging electricity. |
| Core temperature | 1,000°F, listed by Cache on its website accessed in 2026 | A current company-stated parameter, not an independently verified system-wide guarantee; it differs in unit and date from the 2024 reported heat-output figure. |
| Dispatch range | 1–1,000 hours, listed by Cache on its website accessed in 2026 | A company-stated range; the site figure is not an independent validation of performance across every operating condition. |
| Design life | 30+ years, listed by Cache on its website accessed in 2026 | A company-stated design-life figure, not evidence of 30 years of operating history. |
| Cold storage testing | Below –40°F, described by Cache on its website accessed in 2026 | Cache characterizes this as testing of charge retention; it is not an independent test result in the available sources. |
No independent named organization in the available sources reports a performance statistic for Cache’s system. The figures should therefore be read as company claims, with the date and scope attached.
What has been demonstrated—and what remains unproven?
Pilot and funding reported in 2024
In August 2024, TechCrunch reported that Cache had one pilot reactor with a customer and had raised $8.5 million in seed funding. These are dated reporting details, not a current count of installations or a statement of the company’s present financing.
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Duke Energy facility demonstration in 2026
Cache says it demonstrated a modular thermal-storage unit at Duke Energy’s Mt. Holly testing facility in North Carolina in March 2026. The company reported completing full charge-and-discharge cycles and producing heat less than a week after the unit arrived. Those are encouraging company-reported demonstration details, not an independent evaluation of long-term availability, cost, or performance at commercial scale. Cache CEO Arpit Dwivedi said the demonstration showed thermal storage need not be a massive infrastructure project; that is his view, not a measured conclusion.
Army resilience collaboration
In September 2025, Cache announced a collaboration with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) to test an energy-storage system for resilience. The company’s announcement described multi-day backup as an objective or capability under development and said the system would undergo performance testing. It does not establish a completed military deployment or a validated backup system.
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Could the pellets replace coal or natural gas?
They could help replace fossil fuels in some heat applications if the system can supply the required temperature and duty cycle, integrate with the industrial process, operate reliably, and deliver heat at a competitive cost. The crucial comparison is not simply pellet cost versus the price of coal or gas: it must account for charging electricity, the storage unit, installation, operating and maintenance costs, and the heat actually delivered where and when a facility needs it.
- Electricity price: Cheap charging power, including suitable renewable electricity, could improve the economics. Expensive electricity could erase an apparent advantage in the storage medium.
- Process fit: Facilities differ in required temperature, heat profile, space, transport needs, and integration constraints. A system’s listed maximum temperature does not by itself show it fits a specific process.
- Operating evidence: A demonstration or pilot is not the same as sustained, high-availability operation across a commercial fleet.
- Full cost: The 2024 pellet-cost estimate is not a delivered-heat price, and the available sources provide no independently verified head-to-head cost comparison with fossil-fired heat or other thermal storage.
Cache’s founder told TechCrunch the material could use infrastructure similar to that built around fossil fuels. That is a potential integration advantage, not proof that existing equipment can be reused without modification.
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How should a business assess a project?
For an industrial, commercial, or institutional buyer, a useful evaluation compares the proposed system with the site’s actual alternative—not with an abstract fuel price. Ask for site-specific evidence on:
- Required supply temperature and whether the system can maintain it throughout the facility’s heat-demand cycle.
- Charging-power source, price, timing, and connection capacity.
- Delivered heat cost, including installation, integration, maintenance, and financing or lease terms.
- Expected storage duration, dispatch schedule, usable output, and measured availability under comparable operating conditions.
- Equipment footprint, pellet handling and transport, process modifications, and maintenance responsibilities.
- Whether quoted savings and emissions reductions are based on measured site data and the electricity mix used for charging.
Cache currently describes a direct asset lease with no upfront purchase, contract-backed maintenance and uptime, and terms ranging from weeks to years. Its site does not publish a price schedule in the available material. Those terms make a project conversation possible, but a buyer still needs a written, site-specific offer and clear definitions of uptime, performance, and remedies.
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What the evidence means for readers
Cache’s pellets offer a distinct way to store heat: charge a calcium-based material, hold energy in a reversible chemical reaction, then release heat by adding moisture. The company has reported promising performance figures and demonstrations, but those claims do not yet establish independently verified economics or large-scale displacement of coal and natural gas. Whether this technology becomes a practical alternative will depend on real operating records, process fit, and the cost of electricity used to charge it.
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