Australian clean energy company MGA Thermal has announced that they have secured $8.25 million in funding for commercial scale production of its thermal long-duration energy storage solution.
The new funding injection provides a foundation for the next phase of the company’s growth, facilitating the commissioning of its on-site production line and accelerating operations well into 2024.
MGA technology is a purposeful material called Miscibility Gap Alloy (MGA), which is produced as MGA blocks. These blocks are designed with two main materials, small metal alloy particles dispersed through a matrix material. These particles melt as the blocks heat up and energy is absorbed, while the matrix material remains solid and holds the molten particles in place.
This energy is stored in the solid-to-liquid phase change and released as the blocks cool, and the particles become solid again. MGA blocks are used in Thermal Energy Storage Systems (TESS) that provide continuous high-temperature heat or electricity that is safe, low cost, durable and high capacity.
MGA blocks can be made using recycled materials and can be recycled at the end of their long life. It enables long-term energy storage in solar and wind, generating clean steam 24/7 for hard-to-abate industries and retrofitted power plants.
“It’s a combination of our purpose-built MGA Thermal Blocks and Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems that unlocks the transition to clean energy by making it reliable, cost-effective, and scalable. With the imminent completion of our production line, we’re on track to produce 1,000 blocks per day which can then be assembled into 24/7 renewable energy storage,” says Erich Kisi, CEO of MGA Thermal.
With these findings, MGA Thermal is preparing for commercial scale as it is in the final stages of commissioning a first-of-its-kind demonstration unit in the world that will provide a tangible example of the TES system and prove the scalability of the solution to potential customers and partners.
The modular blocks will be stacked into large assemblies within MGA-designed TES systems. These TES systems can provide millions of kilowatt hours of energy cheaper, safer, and longer than other dispatchable solutions. A stack of 3,700 blocks in the demonstration unit, the size of a shipping container, stores enough energy to power more than 135 homes for 24 hours.
“Renewable energy sources come with their limitations, especially when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. Plugging this gap is the reason we exist. MGA Technology is perfectly aligned to generate 24/7 clean steam for harder-to-abate industrial sectors, a rapidly growing, very large market domestically and globally. There’s no shortage of demand, and we’re on track to abate 30 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030 – the equivalent of more than 23 years of commercial flights from Sydney to LA,” concludes Mark Croudace, Deputy CEO and CCO at MGA Thermal.
The new funding injection allows MGA Thermal to strategically expand its business segment and invest in engineering and implementation to boost MGA Thermal’s position in developing TES materials.
