Energy giant Shell has contributed $560,000 to help accelerate the completion of an energy storage pilot at the Newcastle headquarters of clean energy company MGA Thermal.
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.
"I am excited that Shell can support MGA Thermal's pilot project and their ambitions to enable the storage of renewable energy. We look forward to seeing their progress and to continue lending Shell support and expertise."
The pilot will demonstrate the firmed steam generation from stored intermittent renewable energy and has an expected total budget of approximately AU$3 million. It will have a planned storage capacity of 5 megawatt hours, with charging and discharging at up to 500 kilowatts for 10 hours.
The pilot unit, approximately 12 metre long and 3 metre wide, will produce performance data and provide a tangible demonstration of the technology for prospective industrial and power customers.
Data gathered will cover the charging and discharging behaviour, fluid dynamics and temperature distributions, and validate the efficacy of mid-to-long-term thermal storage in a practical system.
"We are very pleased to have Shell's recognition and support for the MGA Thermal technology and pilot. Our technology is attractive for those looking to decarbonise, with a high potential impact in the medium to long-duration energy storage sector, " MGA Thermal chief commercial officer Mark Croudace said.
"Shell's funding, in conjunction with ARENA, allows us to accelerate our pilot, going live in 2023, gather additional data about our technology, and continue our rapid growth into commercial industrial and power markets."
MGA Thermal moved into its new commercial manufacturing facility in Tomago in June 2022.
The University of Newcastle spin-off company was founded with three employees in 2019 and today employs 25. That number is expected to grow to 50 by the end of this year and 80 by the end of 2024.
An initial run of blocks helped kick off MGA Thermal's partnership with the Toshiba International Corporation and Graphite Energy to produce low-cost green hydrogen, a project supported by a $9.8 million Australian Government grant.
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