Australia’s largest industrial thermal storage project begins FEED study

New South Wales (NSW)-headquartered thermal battery technology company MGA Thermal and Perth-based heavy industry decarbonisation company Knode have commenced a $2.9 million (USD 2 million) Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) study.

The $2.9 million Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) backed study of a 195 MWh electro-thermal energy storage (ETES) project will take place in the Western Australian (WA) Kwinana Industrial Area at a US-headquartered chemicals and mining company Tronox facility.

Regarded as the largest industrial-scale thermal storage project in Australia, it is scheduled to commence in 2027 and reach commercial operation by 2028, when it will deliver approximately 20 tonnes per hour of renewable steam to the Tronox facility under a Heat as a Service (HaaS) agreement.

Supported by global engineering company GHD, the initial rollout will allow Tronox to avoid 38,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum, with the potential to eliminate fossil fuel usage if deployed at scale.

MGA Thermal’s industry pipeline momentum is already bolstered by a $17 million capital raise finalised in March 2026, plus a separate $3.25 million funding grant secured from ARENA for five separate FEED studies.

MGA Thermal Chief Executive Officer Mark Croudace said the study will resolve engineering challenges, and makes real, the pathway to financial investment decision (FID) and construction.

“This project is the first of several we are actively developing, and it demonstrates that MGA Thermal’s technology is ready to scale across industrial and manufacturing sectors,” Croudace said.

‍Knode Chief Executive Officer Chris Nelson said progressing to the FEED stage demonstrates a viable way to electrify heavy industry.

“Keeping industries like mineral processing, refining, and materials manufacturing in Western Australia is going to be highly dependent on being able to decarbonise economically.”

A company statement said a 2025 pre-feasibility study confirmed that MGA Thermal’s ETES technology will achieve price parity with traditional fossil fuel technologies at an industrial scale, describing it as “a crucial milestone for the technology’s rollout.’

‍ “Industrial operators have been waiting for clean energy to make economic sense at their scale,” Croudace said.

“Price parity with fossil fuels has been the bar. We have cleared it. Now, with Knode, we’re building. While the upfront investment is significant, first movers will reap the benefits, leveraging available funding to lock in lower long-term energy costs and reduce exposure to rising fossil fuel prices.”