In the spirit of the COP 31 Presidency’s emphasis on its Action Agenda Priorities – the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) will lead a business delegation to COP 31 in Antalya, Türkiye that will bring forward credible solutions, partnerships, investments, and ideas to accelerate the energy transition and decarbonize agriculture, buildings, industry, and transportation. This case study is part of BCSE’s Solutions Showcase to deliver emissions reductions, increase resilience, and meet energy transition goals worldwide.
Highlights:
- About 20 tonnes per hour of clean steam at 365°C.
- 12 hours of storage.
- 70,000 MWh of thermal output each year.
- About 15,000 tonnes of CO₂ avoided each year.
Case Study:
The Challenge
Producing industrial heat requires enormous amounts of energy – about 19% of global final energy use – and today most of it comes from fossil fuels. At the same time, pressure on industry is intensifying as customers, investors and governments demand cleaner operations. Renewable electricity is an obvious solution, but its intermittent nature does not match industry’s continuous operating requirements. Long duration energy storage bridges this gap, storing renewable energy and delivering it on demand allowing industry to stay hot.
Storing latent heat in MGA Blocks
In Kwinana, at the TESSKW1 project site, MGA Thermal is installinga first-of-a-kind 195 MWh thermal energy storage system that turns renewable electricity into clean steam for Tronox’s Kwinana Pigment Plant. At the heart of the system are MGA Blocks – a next-generation thermal storage material leveraging the benefits of a phase change material – enabling the project to deliver about 20 tonnes per hour of clean steam, storing energy for 12 hours and releasing it as high-grade steam at 365°C.
TESSKW1 is expected to help Tronox reduce its carbon emissions at the Kwinana Pigment Plant by around 10%. Perhaps more importantly, it provides an economic replacement for fossil fuel-powered heat and the technology proof point that demonstrates a route to decarbonising other sites for both Tronox and other major emitters. MGA Thermal’s LDES system gives Tronox a solution that is economic, reliable, safe and sustainable.
MGA’s Electro-Thermal Energy Storage (ETES) technology is retrofit ready and meets industries where they are: it integrates into existing industrial setups, connecting into current steam loops and heat processes with minimal disruption. It’s modular and scalable – from 5 MWh modular systems supporting individual facilities to gigawatt-hour-scale deployments serving entire industrial precincts. Together, these strengths give Tronox an easy solution to cut emissions without costly or complex upgrades, proving that clean heat can meet the performance and reliability expectations of heavy industry.
Technology at work
MGA Thermal’s thermal energy storage system uses stacks of MGA Blocks to store energy as latent heat, giving industry a reliable supply of high-grade steam even when renewable power varies. Here’s how it works:
- Charging the blocks
- Renewable electricity is converted to heat using resistive heating elements, and absorbed by the MGA Blocks.
- Energy is stored
- MGA Blocks undergo a phase change to store large amounts of energy as latent heat. These particles remain securely encapsulated in a graphite matrix, which remains outwardly solid through repeated cycles.
- Head on demand
- When the industrial facility needs steam or power, the blocks are cooled and heat is recovered to produce high-grade process heat. That heat feeds straight into the site’s existing steam system, keeping operations running even when renewables are not generating.
Conclusion
As Australia targets a 62–70 % emissions reduction by 2035, this project – backed by ARENA – helps set the country’s industrial heat sector on the right track. It shows how industries can integrate renewables, cut emissions and do so cost-effectively with innovative long duration energy storage technology that does not compromise reliability or competitiveness.