Why Long Duration Energy Storage is the Solution to Industrial Decarbonisation
Why does industry need decarbonising?
Industrial emissions currently contribute to over 25% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, generating over 12.5 billion tons of CO2 emissions in 2021 (LDES Council 2023)!
This is only expected to increase as the global industrial heat demand is predicted to grow by 34% from 2019 to 2040 (IEA New Policies Scenario 2017). Decarbonising industry is critical to realizing the Paris Climate Accord 1.5°C pathway, and keeping the dramatic effects of climate change at bay.
Industry has many considerations when looking to replace typical gas or coal-fired steam systems. Successfully decarbonizing will require new and scaling technologies that firm renewables and service a broad range of temperatures. Most processes currently use fossil fuels and in order to decarbonise will require clean steam in temperatures ranging from less than 150°C to over 1000°C. One solution is Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES), which can already address 65% of industrial emissions and provides a clear pathway to effective decarbonisation.
The LDES Council recently released their report ‘Driving to Net Zero Industry Through Long Duration Energy Storage’ discussing the impact of decarbonising industry. This report states that the emissions reduction opportunity is approximately 8 billion tons of CO2 emissions, which is nearly 2/3 of global industrial emissions. MGA Thermal highly recommends the report and other LDES Council resources, read the report here.
Types of industrial heat
There are four different temperature ranges that are typical for industrial heat.
Below 150°C – this includes processes such as food & beverage, wood processing, data centres etc. There are existing solutions (E.g. heat pumps) to decarbonise this temperature range on the market.
Between 150°C and 500°C – The LDES Council classifies this segment as “easy-to-electrify” and this segment includes processes that typically use heat in the form of steam or hot air.
Between 500°C and 1,000°C – Some of this segment can be addressed with current LDES technology, and emerging LDES technologies will further decarbonise this segment.
Greater than 1,000°C – The LDES Council classifies this segment as "hard-to-electrify", meaning they cannot readily be electrified due to high-temperature balance of plant requirements.
The below figure from the LDES Council outlines the different heat requirements for each industry, with some industries like chemicals, cement, steel and metal using heat in all four segments.
Approximately half of the global industrial heat production falls within the easy-to-electrify segment, including processes such as chemical production, paper, rubber and plastics. The remaining half is in higher-temperature sectors of the hard-to-electrify segment such as steel and cement.
Why LDES?
LDES can provide both heat and electricity supply from stored renewable energy. It decarbonises the current process of fossil fuels and boilers, allowing industry to continue to operate without disruption. LDES stores renewable energy from excess supply from renewable sources, and firms it so it is available 24/7. This results in LDES being an economically attractive solution for industrial firms seeking to decarbonise heat and/or improve the reliability of their electricity supply.
The LDES Council report ‘Driving to Net Zero Industry Through Long Duration Energy Storage’ found that in many applications, LDES can electrify low-to-medium temperature processes at a more economical cost to the alternatives. LDES technology is already on the market to provide the firmed steam or heat for industry.
The economic case for LDES in industry
LDES is an economically attractive solution for industrial firms, especially when factors such as price volatility, energy reliability, and carbon taxes are taken into account. The LDES Council found in low-to-medium temperatures, the economics of the LDES solution are contingent on electricity costs if planning to draw from the energy grid. Therefore the economic case improves further for grid systems that have volatile electricity prices from natural gas prices (Germany), intermittent renewable supply such as solar production (Australia) or low reliability of supply from unplanned outages or labour strikes (South Africa).
“LDES improves electrification economics by decreasing the cost of abatement by 10% to 20% compared to a scenario where LDES is not utilized. Project economics are most sensitive to four key variables: lost load cost savings (related to outage count and duration); natural gas prices; carbon taxes; and bill savings (tied to grid volatility). Increasing any of these variables would enhance LDES feasibility in the future, reducing cost of abatement by ~10-65%.”
The economic savings of switching to LDES is predicted to advance further towards 2040. Key factors increasing the incentive for reliable steam or heat production from LDES solutions include falling capital costs of LDES solutions, diminishing grid reliability and increased price volatility.
Thermal Long-Duration Energy Storage
Thermal Energy Storage (TES) is an ideal technology to deliver heat or even heat and power (co-generation) to industry. There are various types of TES technologies, that can be categorised by different types such as latent heat (includes a phase-change i.e. melting), sensible heat (remains in the same phase), or thermochemical (reversible chemical reactions that produce/use heat).
MGA Thermal stores energy as latent heat, meaning the storage material goes through a phase change. However, what makes MGA’s technology unique, is that the MGA Blocks remain outwardly solid throughout the phase-change.
The MGA Blocks are designed with two key materials. Tiny metal alloy particles are dispersed through a matrix material. The metal alloy particles melt as the blocks are heated and energy is absorbed, while the matrix material remains solid and keeps the molten particles in place. As well as the sensible heat that MGA blocks store, vast amounts of thermal energy is stored in the solid-to-liquid phase change as latent heat and is released as the blocks cool and the particles become solid again.
MGA Blocks are used in Thermal Energy Storage Systems (TESS) which deliver continuous high-temperature heat or electricity that is safe, low cost, sustainable and high capacity.
MGA Thermal is a scaling LDES technology ready to address industrial heat applications between 150°C and 650°C. Contact us to find out how we can enable 24/7 heat or steam production for your industrial application and make 24/7 renewables a reality.