A start-up spun out from the University of Newcastle and using a new energy storage technology based around graphite blocks has won funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency for a first pilot plant.
MGA Thermal says the $2.85 million plant will have a storage capacity of 5MWh (thermal), and will produce steam that can be used in either industrial uses, or for electricity generation.
It says it already has huge interest from customers – and a potential order book of 20 gigawatt hours of storage – attracted by its use of graphite blocks that can store huge amounts of energy as heat, and in what it says is a safe and easy to use way.
The snappily named Medium Duration Thermal Energy Storage demonstrator (MDTES) will be built at the company’s new facilities near Newcastle, will get $1.27 million in funding from ARENA, and on Wednesday a visit from federal climate and energy minister Chris Bowen.
“MGA Thermal is a wonderful example of Australian know-how leading the way in the rapidly expanding renewables sector,” Bowen said in a statement in advance of his visit.
“The company’s unique technology has the potential to make major advances in medium-term storage that are vital for decarbonising industrial energy use and electricity generation in Australia and the world.”
“ARENA is a proud Labor legacy, and projects like this one at MGA Thermal is exactly why the Albanese Government is committed to protecting and strengthening it.”
CEO and co-founder Erich Kisi says thermal blocks will play a critical role in the nation’s energy transition, because it will make it possible to retrofit existing thermal power plants with renewable storage technology.
The company says its purpose-designed Miscibility Gaps Alloy (MGA) technology consists of small particles of an alloy embedded within graphite-based blocks, which are enclosed within a fully insulated system.
Electrical heating elements – powered by renewables – superheat the alloy to an operating temperature of 400-700°C, while the graphite matrix contains the molten alloy.
The company says MGA blocks can store heat for periods ranging from hours to days with minimal loss of energy. Heat exchangers use a transfer gas to absorb heat from the MGA blocks, with the heated gas or fluid suitable for industrial heat applications or to drive a steam turbine to generate electricity.
“If the current industry sentiment and the impacts of climate change are telling us anything, it’s that we can no longer hold off on the renewable energy transition,” Kisi said in a statement.
“While conventional storage technologies like batteries play an important role, a complementary, grid-scale dispatchable energy solution is required to power a seamless transition to renewables nationally.”
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the novel technology had enormous potential to fill a gap in the mid to long term storage category, supporting green hydrogen and pumped hydro, and its potential for industrial heat also offered opportunities to slash emissions in heavy industry.
“With potential deployments for industrial heating end uses, MGA Thermal could play a valuable role in decarbonising both the electricity grid and heavy industry, which often requires high temperature heat and steam for their manufacturing needs, he said.
