Industrial heat generation is a large contributor to the total GHG emissions today. Heat is a very important contributor. Heat accounted for 50% of energy end use and 40% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. About 50% of all heat produced is used for industrial processes, which leads to almost 38% of global CO2 emissions. According to the International Energy Agency, industrial heat demand will increase by 16% globally between 2023 and 2028, with China and India together accounting for more than half of this growth
Decarbonization of industrial heat is critical to reach net zero and it is technologically possible, even though there are still barriers to overcome in economic competitiveness and technology readiness, particularly for high-temperature processes (above 400°C).
Designed and developed by the Magaldi Group, MGTES Magaldi Green Thermal Energy Storage is a sensible heat Thermal Energy Storage (TES) technology that utilizes a fluidized bed of solid particles. MGTES is 100% ESG compliant as it does not use rare materials but only silica sand, steel and other common components. It represents a Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) solution applicable to both Power-to-Heat and Power-to-Heat-to-Power applications.
Following a strategic agreement signed in 2023, MGTES technology will allow Enel X to supply its industrial customers with thermal energy in the form of steam at the desired temperatures and pressures, thereby reducing gas consumption and stabilizing the price of thermal energy.
The first application will involve supplying green thermal energy to meet the energy needs of the food company IGI, a supplier of Ferrero Group, with headquarters in the Industrial Development Area of Buccino.
At regime, it involves building a 2,5 MW photovoltaic plant and a 80 ton MGTES system with a daily storage capacity of 8,6 MWh of thermal energy. The MGTES system, which will become operational by the end of 2024, is expected to reduce IGI’s total consumption to 20%, as well as saving up to 600 tons of CO2 annually, replacing them with renewable energy available throughout the day.
MGTES, based on a fluidized sand bed (sand battery), stores energy from renewable sources, which is then released in the form of steam at high temperatures (between 120-400°C). MGTES - Magaldi Green Thermal Energy Storage technology is unique thermal storage solution specifically designed for industries to reduce industrial fossil fuel energy consumption and facilitate the acceleration of energy transition processes towards renewables.
Energy is stored as sensible heat, at high temperature and high energy density, in the sand bed. Thermal losses are limited to less than 2% per day. The stored energy can be released as superheated steam, or other high temperature fluids, to be directly used in industrial processes or to feed a steam turbine for electricity generation.
MGTES can be connected to any energy source, also leveraging surplus availability, and generate 24/7 green industrial heat for virtually any application that uses steam in a preferred range of 150-400 °C.
The modular design of the MGTES technology offers significant flexibility to suit the demands of the customers in terms of process temperatures, storage times, and demand patterns. By selecting the mass of solid particles contained in each module, thermal storage capacity of a single module can be configured over a wide range starting from 5 MWh to 100 MWh.
