Hunter clean-tech startup MGA Thermal, which stores energy in blocks heated to 653 degrees, has received a significant government funding boost.
The Tomago-based company has secured an additional $2.48 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). It builds on ARENA's previous $1.27 million investment in the long-duration energy storage technology.
MGA Thermal's patented 20-centimetre graphite and alloy blocks can be stacked and stored in an insulated building. They are heated using cheap renewable electricity when it is plentiful in the middle of the day.
The heat can be extracted at a later point and converted to high-pressure steam, powering multiple manufacturing processes.
The new funding will be used to resume the commissioning of a demonstration unit at the Tomago plant.
"The world's industrials are at a critical juncture in their renewable energy, decarbonisation journey, and we believe MGA Thermal will play a key role in enabling renewable generation to meet their needs,"MGA Thermal chief executive Mark Croudace said.
"A behind-the-metre energy storage solution that helps balance utility-scale renewables with distributed energy storage is vital for Australia to effectively manage the evolving supply-demand dynamics of a clean energy future. With support from ARENA, we're getting closer to recommissioning our demonstration unit and starting to scale up for commercial deployment."
ARENA chief executive Darren Miller said the agency was committed to supporting companies with solutions for our energy transition.
"We prioritise projects with enduring impact and see the value in MGA Thermal's technology for assisting large industrial players in decarbonising their processes," he said.
"We are proud to continue supporting MGA Thermal's technology development which we believe could have a significant impact on Australia's renewable energy transition."
By storing and dispatching heat energy in the form of clean steam, MGA Thermal aims to offer sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel-dependent processes, complementing current renewable energy solutions with back-of-the-meter solutions that capture off-peak energy and optimise energy efficiency.
Energy giant Shell committed $560,000 in early 2023 to the acceleration of the completion of MGA's energy storage pilot.
The pilot aims to gather data relating to the rapidly growing market for new longer-duration energy storage solutions to replace ageing or increasingly expensive thermal power stations.
"MGA Thermal was selected from a pool of dozens of quality applicants to a long-duration energy storage call for solutions," Matt McDonald from the Shell GameChanger program said.
