MGA Thermal Energy Storage Project
- $1.26m Funded by ARENA
- $2.84m Total project cost
Summary
The MGA Thermal Energy Storage Project will design, manufacture and operate a 0.5 MWth / 5 MWhth demonstration-scale thermal energy storage (TES) system using MGA Thermal’s proprietary Miscibility Gap Alloy (MGA) technology.
Need
Strong uptake of variable renewable energy is driving a requirement for storage in Australia’s electricity markets. The Australian Energy Market Operator’s 2022 Integrated System Plan states that the electricity market will need significant investment in new flexible, dispatchable capacity to support growth in renewable energy as the thermal fleet retires. Developed at the University of Newcastle, MGA Thermal’s TES system has the potential to be a cost-effective medium duration storage technology due to its high energy density, low energy degradation, modular design and low cost.
Learn more
Report: Market Context Report MGA Thermal Energy Storage Application in Australia
This is the first Knowledge Sharing Report for the project, outlining key rationale in the context of the Australian renewable energy landscape.
Media Release: MGA Thermal to Demonstrate a Fresh Approach to Energy Storage
ARENA announced funding for MGA Thermal Pty Ltd (MGA Thermal) to help demonstrate their innovative thermal energy storage technology.
Action
MGA Thermal will partner with Varley Group to demonstrate the performance of its TES technology under testing scenarios that simulate a variety of end use cases, including providing dispatchable power, process heat or green hydrogen production. The data and insights produced will inform the business case for future applications of the technology. The project will operate for at least 6 months to demonstrate charging, storage and discharging capabilities.
Outcome
The project aims to achieve the following outcomes:
- validate the technical performance of MGA Thermal’s proprietary TES technology under a variety of end-use case simulations
- improve understanding of the techno-economic business case for MGA Thermal’s technology in comparison to competing energy storage technologies
- demonstrate the potential role that TES technology could play in the Australian energy market including for dispatchable electricity and process heat.
Additional impact
Following completion of the project, MGA Thermal will seek to scale up its manufacturing capacity to enable it to deploy its TES technology at utility scale in the Australian energy market.
ARENAWIRE Blogs
Thermal energy: Can MGA fill a battery gap?
A novel approach to utilising latent heat of fusion promises a versatile and cost-effective method of storing renewable energy and filling a battery technology gap.
