August 5, 2021
As fossil fuels are replaced by renewable energy sources, utilities face the ongoing challenge of storing huge amounts of dispatchable energy to meet demand in off-peak or high-demand scenarios. MGA Thermal’s solution enables conversion of existing infrastructure, including coal-fired power plants, into grid-scale energy storage or creation of new supplementary infrastructure alongside solar and wind farms to provide continuous, dispatchable energy when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow. MGA Thermal is built on breakthrough Miscibility Gaps Alloy (MGA) technology, extraordinary shoebox-sized blocks that are capable of receiving energy generated by renewables, storing it cheaply and safely as thermal energy, then using it to run steam turbines at thermal power stations instead of burning coal. The blocks, which can be stacked like building blocks or bricks, are able to store millions of kilowatt-hours of energy, in a cheaper, safer, and longer-lasting way compared to other dispatchable solutions. A stack of 1000 blocks — about the size of a small car — is enough energy stored to power 27 homes for…