Industry-leading solar thermal technology, capable of producing temperatures up to 1200 degrees Celsius, is aiming to transform Australia’s energy-intensive heavy industries.
FPR Energy, a new venture from CSIRO, has secured seed funding to commercialise its particle-based Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) technology.
CSIRO Energy Technologies Research Director Daniel Roberts said the next generation solar thermal technology would help reduce industrial emissions, which account for 20 percent of Australia’s annual carbon footprint.
Dr Roberts said FPR Energy aimed to cut emissions in heavy industries such as minerals refining, steel, cement and chemical production using the CST technology, which was capable of producing industry-first temperatures up to 1200 degrees Celsius.
He said the technology used abundant and low-cost ceramic particles to store sunlight as heat, enabling long-duration energy storage to support industrial processes, green fuel production and reliable, dispatchable power.
“FPR Energy is a major step in meeting the growing demand for renewable solutions in hard-to-abate heavy industries.
“Helping heavy industries to transition to cleaner energy sources is essential to reaching Australia’s net-zero emission targets,” he said.
Dr Roberts said FPR Energy planned to develop a 50 megawatt thermal demonstration plant, with up to 16 hours of integrated thermal energy storage.
“The plant aims to prove the commercial viability of FPR Energy’s CST technology at a utility scale.”
