Australia’s largest thermal storage project takes important next step

Thermal energy storage technology developed by New South Wales headquartered MGA Thermal is economically competitive with traditional fossil fuel technologies at an industrial scale, according to a recently completed pre-feasibility study.

MGA Thermal and Western Australian based energy company Knode announced this week that they had made “significant progress” on a proposed 180 megawatt-hour (MWh) industrial-scale thermal energy storage (TES) project in Western Australia, completing a pre-feasibility study of the proposed project.

The 180 MWh TES project, which will deliver renewable heat for industrial processes, is expected to be Australia’s largest thermal storage deployment and one of the country’s most advanced industrial decarbonisation initiatives.

The proposed TES project would use MGA Thermal’s TES technology, which is based around a patented material called Miscibility Gap Alloy (MGA), manufactured in the form of MGA Blocks.

According to the company, these MGA Blocks are designed with tiny metal alloy particles that are dispersed through a matrix material.

Energy is absorbed by the melting of the tiny metal alloy particles even while the matrix material remains solid, keeping the molten particles in place. Energy is stored during this solid-to-liquid heating phase and then released as the blocks cool and the particles become solid again.

The MGA Blocks are therefore fully capable of serving as a supply of process heat, heat and power, or steam for electricity generation. MGA Thermal believes that their technology offers industrial companies a scalable means of electrifying high-grade process heat, helping to reduce energy costs, emissions, and reliance on fossil fuel energy sources.

Thermal energy storage technology such as this can serve as a firming technology capable of storing intermittent renewable energy generation and delivering stable and continuous power 24/7.

And, according to the pre-feasibility study, which investigated a possible 180 MWh TES project capable of delivering 20 tonnes per hour of steam to an industrial site, MGA Thermal’s TES technology is economically competitive with traditional fossil fuel technologies at an industrial scale.

If completed, the 180 MWh storage facility would be connected to Western Australia’s South West Interconnected System (SWIS) and would be capable of delivering significant network benefits such as including load shifting.

“Knode and MGA Thermal are pioneering Australia’s largest industrial-scale thermal energy storage project that represents a genuine breakthrough in industrial decarbonisation,” said Mark Croudace, CEO of MGA Thermal.

“This project not only validates the commercial viability of MGA Thermal’s technology at scale but also demonstrates its applicability to high-temperature industrial heat processes, a critical need that few other renewable technologies can effectively address.”

The proposed project builds on the successful launch of MGA Thermal’s 5 MWh commercial-scale demonstration project earlier this year.

“Without viable clean steam solutions that remove reliance on natural gas, carbon-intensive industries face an uncertain future as global markets increasingly demand low-carbon products,” said Chris Nelson, CEO of Knode.

“Commercialising and scaling new technologies is challenging, and we’re adopting an innovative approach that engages multiple industrial stakeholders upfront to co-develop this industry-defining asset.

“By derisking the technology and business case at scale, the project has the potential to accelerate rollout for these stakeholders across their facilities globally.”

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