1414 get some publicity now. The potential is huge. Imagine the savings on operating cost and being able to substitute diesel engines, using gas for sales.1414 hasambitious plans for its thermal energy storage system
· Future Of Energy > New-energy
· 31 January 2019
Helen Clark
Ms
It'sambitious pipeline for a company still working to get its first project up andrunning, though its founder told Energy News last year prior to IPO he had beenspeaking to varied customers from wastewater treatment facilities to hotelierslooking to save on power and heating costs.
But itsproject at hand is now at a good stage, with funds from its September IPOletting fast-track its GAS-TESS commercial pilot at the South AustralianWater's Glenelg facility, after receiving Bureau Veritas certification afterthe end of the quarter.
Theheat-energy company, which listed in June, has had the commissioning of itsTESS-IND verified by Bureau Veritas, which reviewed system operations,measurement points, instrumentation type and collation of data.
TESSstands for thermal energy storage system and is the bedrock of 1414's newoffering which aims to store waste heat in molten silicon to later be returnedas heat, or power, on demand.
1414 wasfounded by Dr Kevin Moriarty an ex-gold miner and former Santos employeein the 1980s so possibly it's apposite that he notes Santos' managing directorKevin Gallagher's mention that gas refining facilities use 5% of theiroutput.
Gallagherwas actually speaking of Santos' nascent plans to install solar panels to itsCooper Basin oil well beam pumps but look to solar power at a later date on gasfacilities to save money and claw back some measure of social licence.
"Powergeneration facilities have also approached the company, seeking ways to runoperations more efficiently and the company is fielding approaches fromAustralia and overseas," 1414 said today.
"Wehave been working with on solutions involving large grid-scale TESS deliveringheat as hot air or steam, and electricity. In most cases a gigawatt hour scaleTESS-GRID is needed to meet site specifications.
"Largegas users have approached the company given refining gas and petroleum productsrequites a lot of heat.
"Thecontinued fall in the price of renewable generation creates opportunities forTESS teamed with renewable generation to displace this gas, increasing gasavailability without increasing emissions while improving profits andpreserving jobs that might otherwise be lost as industry relocates productionto lower cost jurisdictions."
Thisseems to echo a report from the Australian Consumer and Competition Commissionwhich reported large scale industrial gas users on the east coast wereconsidering either relocating or shutting down if prices didn't comedown.
"Ourplan is to build the first 40 megwatt hour cell charging and discharging fromthe electricity grid to demonstrate its advantages while providing stabilityservices to the national electricity market.
It says acontract with a power wholesaler will allow it to arbitrage on the NEM buyingelectricity at a low price and selling when prices are high.
Thedevice would also earn NEM fees for grid stability because its turbine hasspinning inertia like a gas or coal plant it could provide fast frequencyresponse to grid variation by near-instantaneous switching of its chargingconnection , it said.
On theAdelaide front it said it was the first installation in a working industrialplant where reliability and functionality are the key requitements," itsaid, noting other systems and plants rarely focused on efficiency.
"Itis also our first opportunity to operate the TESS where both electricity andheat outputs can be used and measured."
It willbe another step towards commissioning the TESS-IND and turbine.
"Thisis a further step up from the commissioning of the control systems for theTESS-IND and turbine that we reported recently.
TESS canstore energy then generate synchronous electricity with a turbine and heat forlong periods. The GAS-TESS will burn biogas from the wastewater treatment plantand qualifies as baseload renewables power station while providing low costgrid scale storage.
This isthe first time biogas burning in an oxygenated atmosphere has been used tocharge the silicone-based heat store. It will first ramp its turbine using"sensible heat" and then the heat store will be charged in the latentheat range making the metal molten.
Thedifference is in the density of the energy storage.
1414 isso named because its silicon storage device can be heated to 1414 degreesCelsius, though a recent test saw it hit 1418C.
"Ourexpectation is that GASS-TESS wil provide a unique and competitive solution forwaste management facilities including sewerage, landfill dumps and animalfarming.
"Thisglobal market potential supports a high growth outlook for this product intothe long term," it said.
Also inthe quarter it assessed the Abbe cardboard plant in Victoria during the quarterand presented a pre-feasibility study and Pepe's Ducks has told 1414 it wantsto proceed with a project once Chinese New Year's peak demand is past.
It willprovide a small-scale turbine to the hatchery focusing on heat outputonly.
"Weare also designing and testing components for the much larger 40MWh device torealise even lower build costs,"
Cashspent was much lower than expected this quarter and 1414 will receive A$2.5million bump in Rsearch and Development tax refunds.
"Weexpect an increased spend in the next quarter to buy a new turbine and heatexchanger for the next TESS-IND and advance our key projects," itsaid.
