MGA Thermal is thrilled to announce we have been awarded funding by global energy provider Shell. The funding, approximately US$400K (AUD$560K), provided under Shell GameChanger, is to accelerate the MGA Thermal Energy Storage demonstration unit. Located at MGA Thermal’s new commercial manufacturing facility in Newcastle, Australia, the demonstration unit aims to gather valuable data amid the growing and urgent need for new longer-duration energy storage (LDES) solutions to replace ageing or increasingly expensive thermal and other conventional power stations.The MGA Thermal Energy Storage demonstration plant will demonstrate the firmed steam generation from stored intermittent renewable energy and has an expected total budget of approximately AUD$3 million. It will be located at the company’s head office in Tomago, NSW, and has a planned storage capacity of 5 MWh, with charging and discharging at up to 500 kW for 10 hours. The MGA Thermal Energy Storage unit is approximately 12m long and 3m wide, will produce valuable 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.“MGA Thermal was selected from a pool of dozens of quality applicants to a long-duration energy storage call for solutions,” said Matt McDonald, from Shell GameChanger. “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.”Mark Croudace, CCO of MGA Thermal said, “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. 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.”‍

We were thrilled to win the Innovation Aus Translation Hero Award 2022 for Excellence for our use of research to revolutionise renewable energy systems. The Translation Hero category celebrated commercialisation success stories, shining a spotlight on Australian companies or individuals who have shown excellence in taking intellectual property from deep tech research and successfully bringing it into the commercial realm. Presented by Elanor Huntington, the award was accepted by Arden Jarrett and Mark Croudace on behalf of the MGA Thermal team. Thanks to InnovationAus.com for the recognition and University of Newcastle for the support throughout our commercialisation journey. Read more about it here.

MGA Thermal is pleased to share that Australian electricity giant, AGL Energy Limited (AGL), who operate Australia’s largest electricity generation portfolio, is progressing with a feasibility study of MGA technology to be applied to the 200 MW Torrens Island B power station in South Australia, supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. AGL will be assessing the feasibility of repurposing existing electricity infrastructure at sites like Torrens Island, to be powered by renewable sources and backed by flexible energy storage technologies. The $1 million feasibility study will investigate options to use grid electricity to charge the thermal energy storage and discharge through one of the power station’s existing 200 MW steam turbines, which ordinarily runs on gas, when electricity is required on the grid.AGL’s feasibility study will be conducted over approximately 12 months, with MGA Thermal and one other shortlisted technology, with a view to establish the technical and commercial feasibility of the chosen preferred solution.The Australian Energy Market Operator in its 2022 Integrated System Plan indicated the National Electricity Market (NEM) will need more than 60 GW of dispatchable generation and storage by 2050 to support the uptake of renewable energy.The most pressing utility-scale need in the next decade is for medium-duration (4 to 12 hours) storage to manage daily variations in solar and wind output to meet customer demand as coal power stations are shut down.Findings from the feasibility study are expected to be replicable and scalable with other thermal generators across the NEM, with technology providers being able to benefit from the information.ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the study will explore the role thermal energy storage can take in allowing higher levels of renewable energy production across the NEM by repurposing existing power stations and energy infrastructure.“AGL’s study comes at an important time when we need to look at all options for renewable energy storage. As thermal power stations close, there could be an opportunity to retrofit these sites as we head towards net zero emissions,” Mr Miller said.Read the full ARENA announcement here.

MGA Thermal attended All Energy in October 2022 in Melbourne. It was MGA Thermal’s third and largest exhibition in 2022, we are looking forward to even more exhibitions and conferences in 2023. All Energy was attended by over 15,000 people and 300 exhibitors from all over Australia and the world. If you’d like to learn more about All Energy, find it here. From the MGA Thermal team, the conference was attended by Mark Croudace our CCO, and Arden Jarrett our Business Development Officer.‍

We are thrilled to share we have been awarded funding of $1.27 million from the Federal Government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to launch our MGA Thermal Energy Storage demonstration unit.It was announced on 10 August 2022 by the Hon Chris Bowen MP, Australian Federal Energy Minister and Ms Meryl Swanson MP, Member for Paterson, at our Head Office and Manufacturing site in Tomago, NSW. The $1.27 million funding will help launch the creation and installation of a 5 MegaWatt hour (MWh) storage prototype to demonstrate the generation of steam from stored thermal energy. Showcasing charging and discharging at up to 500 KiloWatts (kW), the demonstration unit will be located at the company’s facility in Tomago. With an expected budget of $2.85 million, the pilot unit will produce valuable performance data and provide a tangible demonstration of the technology for prospective customers. “The latest round of funding underscores the critical role that MGA Thermal blocks will play in the nation’s energy transition. Solutions like ours make it possible to retrofit existing thermal power plants with renewable storage technology” says Erich Kisi, co-founder and CEO of MGA Thermal. “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. 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,” adds Kisi.Darren Miller, CEO of ARENA explains, “MGA Thermal’s unique technology has enormous potential to support the uptake of renewable energy. The novel approach could make a real difference in the mid-to-long-term storage category, supporting hydrogen and pumped hydro. With potential developments for industrial heating and uses, MGA thermal will play a crucial role in decarbonising the electricity grid and heavy industry.”With current customer interest of 20 GWh, the equivalent of powering 1.3 million homes, MGA Thermal’s solution can repurpose coal-fired and power plants with thermal storage to deliver clean baseload power, while also helping to prevent job loss from power plant closures.

A collaboration between Toshiba, MGA Thermal and Graphite Energy has been awarded a Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) grant for $9.8 million towards a $19.6 million project to accelerate economical green hydrogen production.The collaboration will combine advanced electrolysis and thermal energy storage for the production of super low-cost hydrogen fuel in NSW. The TOSHIBA Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell is a high-efficiency, advanced method of electrolysis which, when integrated with MGA Thermal and Graphite Energy storage will allow for high-capacity continuous (24/7) production of hydrogen from renewable energy.Erich Kisi, CEO of MGA Thermal said, “We are very excited to announce this new application of MGA Thermal technology, which will be a key driver of the production of economical Hydrogen.”The Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) is a $1.3 billion federal government initiative in key manufacturing priority areas. It aims to transform manufacturing businesses and help them scale-up, translate ideas into commercial successes and integrate into local and international value chains. The MMI Collaboration Stream provides funding to support very large projects in business-to-business and business-to-research collaboration, to build economies of scale. Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation are a leading supplier of integrated energy solutions and Global Original Equipment Manufacturer based in Japan. Toshiba are contributing to achieving carbon neutral sustainability goals through their long experience and expertise in a wide range of power generating and transmitting systems and energy management technology. Graphite Energy is an Australian based leader in the integration of graphite based Thermal Energy Storage for process heat, renewable energy storage and green fuels.With MGA’s novel thermal energy storage material, this makes an ideal consortium to produce green hydrogen more efficiently and cheaply than ever before.