A September 2026 IEA report proposed a 35% global electrification target by 2035 was in “striking distance” thanks to existing commercial technologies such as electric vehicles and battery storage systems but did not include the electrification of hard-to-abate sectors, despite market ready technologies existing.

Mineral processors, food manufacturers and chemical plants, which run 24/7 on continuous high-temperature steam require the significant heat thermal energy storage systems (TESS) can deliver reducing dependence on fuels such as natural gas.

MGA Thermal Head of Business Development Will Furness spoke to pv magazine about the company’s electro-thermal energy storage system (ETES), designed to carry the hardest of industrial loads, but also shows potential to solve issues impacting the grid, such as renewable curtailment.

MGA Thermal utilises proprietary miscibility gap alloy (MGA) blocks deployed in its ETES, which are made from aluminium and graphite to store surplus renewable energy as heat (reaching core temperatures around 550°C or higher) to dispatch it as industrial-grade clean steam or electricity.

The business case and value proposition for thermal energy storage is founded on economics. We are already today delivering heat at a lower operating cost than conventional fossil fuel boilers.

It’s already cheaper today and if it’s powered by renewable electricity then its eliminating scope 1 and 2 emissions, so it’s reliable, affordable and sustainable power to those industrial businesses.

As we get the reference projects like Tronox in Western Australia (WA) across the line, it will continue to drive capital costs down further and further, and I think we’re going to see the pivot point over the next few years, where industrial businesses have that widespread adoption of thermal energy storage for industrial heating applications.

Source link