Vast wins backing of global energy giant to push multiple solar thermal projects

Vast Renewables’ concentrated solar plans have attracted another big-name backer, with French energy giant EDF pledging €10 million towards the development of “multiple” CSP projects in Australia.

The deal, subject to a number of conditions, will see EDF Australia partner with Vast on solar thermal projects, bringing together Vast’s proprietary technology and EDF’s expertise in thermal energy – and in particular, in the use of sodium as a heat transfer fluid.

Vast’s CSP 3.0 technology, demonstrated at a 1.1MW pilot plant in Jemalong in NSW, uses modular arrays of solar towers and receivers to capture and store energy from the sun and use it provide electricity and heat.

Vast’s technology uses sodium as the heat transfer fluid, a feature the company says has improved the efficiency of the solar collecting system, reducing capital and operating costs.

Currently Vast is chipping away at the development of Australia’s first concentrated solar plant, a planned 30MW facility with 288MWh of thermal storage in Port Augusta, South Australia, dubbed VS1.

VS1 will be co-located with Vast’s planned Solar Methanol 1 (SM1), a green methanol demonstration plant led by Vast and German integrated energy giant Mabanaft.

EDF Australia country manager James Katsikas says the group’s role in the partnership is as a long term, strategic investor, “uniquely placed” to accelerate the commercialisation of technologies like Vast’s CSP 3.0.

“With our knowledge and experience, we are well-equipped to successfully execute multiple projects within the clean-energy value chain,” Katsikas said on Thursday.

“We look forward to collaborating with Vast and believe this arrangement has the potential to accelerate the nation’s transition towards clean energy production and consumption.”

At the start of the year, Vast struck a deal with the world’s biggest oil industry drilling contractor to become a publicly listed company on the Nasdaq in a bid to take its technology to the world.

In Australia, Vast’s technology has received significant support from the federal government via Arena, including $A65 million of conditional grant funding to support the construction of VS1.

Vast’s SM1 green methanol demonstration plant was awarded $A19.48 million and €13.2 million of conditional grant funding from an Australian and German government collaboration.

Farming billionaire Johnny Kahlbetzer, Vast’s founder, said this week that the new deal with EDF was a “fantastic” validation of the company’s 14-year journey.

“Such development is integral to what AgCentral and the Twynam Earth Fund are all about, finding important decarbonisation technologies and getting them to market,” he said.

“We look forward to working with EDF Australia to deliver long-duration storage and green fuels projects, using our CSP technology to accelerate the decarbonisation of Australian industry,” added Vast CEO Craig Wood.

William Restrepo, the CFO of Nabors said the EDF partnership with Vast was a “critical milestone in catalysing the development of future CSP projects in the country.

“EDF Australia’s capital commitment to Vast validates the potential NETC sees in Vast to be a central player in the energy transition in Australia and around the world,” Restrepo said.

EDF Australia’s capital commitment to Vast is subject to closing the deal between Vast and Nabors Energy Transition Corp (NETC) and other customary conditions, the companies said.