Long-term energy storage startups Energy Vault, Malta Inc in discussions on 2.6GWh deployment
Energy Vault gravity and kinetic energy storage startup and Malta Inc thermal pumped hydro startup both said this week that their technologies could be set up for gigawatt scale deployments. the hour.
Energy Vault systems will be used in the production of sustainable synthetic aviation fuel, in accordance with the terms of a 1.6GWh agreement that the technology provider at the Swiss headquarters has signed with DG Fuels.
DG Fuels has developed a fuel production process based on carbon conversion and hydrogen electrolysis which is stated to be able to achieve a carbon conversion efficiency of 93%. The company believes it can reduce the amount of raw materials needed to produce fuels that can be used in conventional aircraft engines.
Energy Vault has developed an energy storage technology that involves lifting and then lowering and rocking huge weights from tower-mounted cranes. The company claims that its technology is scalable to provide large amounts of energy for a duration ranging from two hours to 12 hours.
While the company has yet to deliver any system to customers, it is aiming for public listing of its shares through a combination with Novus Capital Corporation II, a special-purpose procurement company (SPAC).
The energy storage company has yet to perfect or also produce the systems it is looking to create, revealed in regulatory files made before the planned merger of the SPAC. However he said this week that DG Fuels wants to use the technology on multiple projects, starting with a 500MWh project in Louisiana, USA, which Energy Vault said is expected to start in the middle of next year. .
Followed by similar projects in British Columbia and Ohio, Energy Vault said the deal will be worth US $ 520 million in revenue.
Energy Vault systems will be combined with solar PV to solidify and form renewable energy production to meet the demand for DG Fuel’s green hydrogen production, powered by water electrolysis. to produce hydrogen and oxygen raw materials. DG Fuel claims that its production process has zero CO2 life cycle emissions.
Molten salt, anti-freeze and machines for long-term electrical storage and heating
Meanwhile Malta Inc., a Massachusetts-based company that has developed grid-scale electro-thermal energy storage technology, is in discussions to operate a 1,000MWh system in the Maritimes, Canada.
Malta Inc. is in talks with local utility NB Power to potentially build its system in New Brunswick and could be in service during 2024, the company claimed.
Malta’s so-called ‘pumped heat storage’ technology can provide up to 200 hours of storage, although the company has previously said it is targeting opportunities for applications that require 10 to 12 hours. The systems convert the electricity into heat which is then stored in molten salt. At the same time it produces cold energy which is stored in barrels of a special coolant which is described as similar to anti-freeze.
The heat and cold are then converted back into electrical energy as needed, using a heat engine driven by the temperature difference. The company claims that its systems can be built using abundant materials, combining different processes from established and proven industries.
In July, Malta Inc. signed an agreement with Siemens Energy to develop turbomachinery components for its systems and in March Energy-Storage.news reported the company’s closure of a $ 50 million financing round, with investors including Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskowitz and Bill Gates ’Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
NB Power uses technology to store energy for when it needs to be used, and allows the community to diversify its resource mix to include more renewable generation, electrification of homes and businesses and accommodate electric vehicles. Malta said that heat leakage as a by-product of the operation of its storage system can also be used as district and industrial and commercial heating.