Creating the building blocks for new energy storage

MGA Thermal has created an entirely new form of energy storage that’s stacking up to be a game-changer on the global stage.

It relies on engineered materials called Miscibility Gap Alloys (MGA), which can store energy generated from renewable sources like wind and solar to help power the manufacturing and heavy industry sectors.

These industries use up to 500 percent more energy than the residential sector, so finding ways to reduce emissions and support the transition to green energy solutions is critical.

From idea to commercial startup

The Miscibility Gap Alloys are manufactured into small, stackable blocks. Each block is about the size of a shoe box, weighs roughly nine kilograms and can store heat energy up to 650 degrees Celsius. The blocks can be recycled back into raw materials and recreated into new blocks for ongoing use.

The energy storage breakthrough took shape in 2011, when University of Newcastle researchers combined two elements – graphite and aluminium alloy – which had different melting temperatures.

When heated, the fine grain components of the alloy melt and store energy while the solid component holds everything together. Because the core elements are common and abundant, the blocks can be produced for about 10 percent of the cost of lithium batteries while producing the same amount of energy.

With support from the University’s Integrated Innovation Network (or I2N) and the CSIRO ON Accelerate program, the University research team took their new energy storage solution from an idea to a commercially viable startup.

MGA Thermal was officially formed in 2019 by Honorary Professor Erich Kisi who co-invented the technology and University alumnus Dr Alex Post.

The company built a manufacturing plant in the Hunter region in 2023 which can produce 200 energy storage blocks per day.

Since then, it has created a demonstration plant for its thermal energy storage system with support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and US energy company Shell.

The demonstration site is testing MGA’s energy storage technology in scenarios that simulate a variety of end-use applications at a scale of 5 megawatt-hours. The system is scalable to 6 gigawatt-hours of stored renewable energy.

The aim is to help decarbonise the heavy industry sector by providing an economical way to deliver clean energy at scale on a 24/7 basis.