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Energy
1414 Degrees has its development pathway locked and loaded after the thermal energy storage specialist signed a string of deals with sector leaders like Woodside Petroleum and renewable energy developer Ovida (a 100% subsidiary of energy infrastructure giant Jemena).
T’was late last year that 1414 Degrees (ASX:14D) struck a volley of agreements, notably with Australia’s largest natural gas provider – Woodside Energy.
The energy giant chose to participate in 14D’s expertise in the construction and testing of its SiBox Demonstration module, which will see them contribute up to $2m.
SiBox is the latest generation of 1414 Degrees’ proprietary silicon based thermal energy storage technology. The module is designed to be scalable and offers industrial energy users a solution for long duration energy storage. It is also one of the only potential solutions to date in solving the problem of how to de-carbonise heat.
It’s got a lot of people across the private and public sectors very excited.
The firm is the recipient of a $2.2 million grant from the Australia Federal Government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) to fast-track the commercialisation of SiBox, complementing the agreement with Woodside Energy Technologies.
This will also fund commercialisation activities including market research and techno-economic evaluation of brown-field opportunities for SiBox, such as case studies of SiBox applications and integrating into existing industrial process heat operations or thermal energy power plants.
SiBox will undergo an extended period of performance tests and validation operations before Woodside notifies 14D about if they would like to proceed to jointly develop and commercialise the SiBox tech.
SiBox – to be commissioned in early 2023 – aims to harness the extremely high latent heat capacity of silicon, enabling intermittent renewables to provide flexible, ultra-high temperature heat – 24/7 – for large industrial applications. This means a very simple thing – the delivery of clean, reliable heat and power supply from intermittent renewable energy, when its required.
It’s envisaged the flexibility of the SiBox modular development concept will also provide energy customers with the ability to optimise their energy systems in a way that not only maximises their utilisation of cheaper renewable power, but simplifies their purchasing costs from wholesale energy suppliers.
During the quarter significant progress was also made for potential investors when the SA Government approved the development variations to 14D’s Aurora Energy Project (AEP).
The successful granting in November of a variation to the AEP Development Approval by the South Australian Minister for Planning and Local Government allows for the addition of a 140MW/280MWhr battery energy storage system (BESS), 70MW solar photo-voltaic and a 150MW concentrated solar plant (CSP). The modified site layout also provides for connection to the Electranet 275kV network adjacent to the site.
The potential of the Aurora Energy Project was underscored when Chief Executive Officer Matt Squire announced an exclusivity MoU was entered into back in December with Ovida, a fully owned subsidiary of Jemena to potentially partner in its development.
The MoU provides Ovida with an exclusivity period to work with 14D before entering into a definitive sale and purchase agreement in mid-2022.
“These agreements with Woodside Energy Technologies and Ovida, as well as the award of the MMI grant will not only provide significant sources of funding over the next period of the company’s activities, but they are also evidence of the large potential that exists in our business as the world looks to rapidly decarbonise,” he said.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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