Thermal battery an energy answer in hot heavy industry
Upgrading factories to store and use heat like energy from a battery has been touted as a low-cost way to decarbonise heavy industry.
The potential of emerging electrothermal energy storage technologies, like batteries but for heat rather than electricity, has been evaluated by the Climateworks Center for Gladstone, one of Australia’s heavy industry hotspots.
Smarter timing of heat use by generators “is key to reducing emissions, energy prices and strengthening the grid,” said Calvin Lee, senior project manager at the think tank.
“‘Australia’s biggest lever in the energy emergency right now is to increase supply and bring in expensive coal and gas,'” Dr Lee said.
“Demand management, which allows industries to shift power usage up and down like a giant battery, would add another much-needed emergency tool to the nation’s toolbox.”
Australia is seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 62-70 per cent by 2035, and by 2022 industry will account for 17 per cent of the country’s total climate pollution.
However, reducing emissions from production is particularly challenging for heavy industry, which is dependent on extremely high process temperatures.
The aluminium, clinker, cement, lime and various chemicals produced at Gladstone require industrial heat across the temperature spectrum, with significant opportunities for low-temperature alumina and electrification in some parts of aluminum processing.
A shift to low-carbon alternatives for fuel, such as green hydrogen when commercially available and bioenergy for higher-temperature functions, would pave the way for emissions reductions of around 80 percent by 2040, Climateworks charts.
Under this scenario, a seven-fold increase in electricity demand could be expected alongside major growth in renewable energy-intensive green hydrogen.
Dr Lee said such a boom in demand for electricity had the potential to push up prices, with this uncertainty currently creating a barrier for companies looking to switch to electricity.
Electrothermal energy storage was framed as a solution.
“You charge in the middle of the day when electricity is plentiful and cheap, and then you discharge the battery, thus releasing all the heat when electricity is expensive, such as in the morning or evening,” Dr Lee told AAP.
“So you can produce heat continuously throughout the day and at the same time avoid the use of expensive electricity.”
His organization sees the government as a partner in the transition to flexible, low-carbon industrial heat, including low-cost financing routes, taking into account the high up-front costs.
The model suggests Gladstone industries could save $3 million a day in operating costs if the region turned to flexible energy demand management.
A flexibly electrified Gladstone industrial sector could deliver 4.4 gigawatts of flexible energy by 2040, the equivalent of Queensland’s three largest power stations, and reduce wholesale energy prices.
Operating costs for flexible heat are currently calculated in approximately the same way as conventional gas-fired boilers.
But going forward, Climateworks says a gas-centric, business-as-usual approach will become increasingly expensive as carbon penalties under the Safeguard Mechanism start to bite and wholesale gas prices remain volatile.
Australian producers have been warning of collapse without government intervention to secure affordable gas supplies, as highlighted by BlueScope Steel chief executive Mark Vassella at the National Press Club on Wednesday.
Australia’s Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national news channel and has been providing accurate, reliable and fast-paced news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We inform Australia.
