1414 Degrees continues solar thermal storage plan

Energy storage development company 1414 Degrees has accelerated development of its long-awaited Aurora Solar Energy Project at Port Augusta in South Australia.

Following an oversubscribed share purchase plan which raised $3.1 million, the company announced project managers and engineering firms were proceeding with design of a substation and advancing a transmission connection agreement for a planned first stage.

Key equipment suppliers have been selected for the major components comprising solar PV, batteries, inverters and power management system.

However this is a modest 70MW of PV with a 70MW/70MWh battery system (BESS), and not the company’s proprietary Thermal Energy Storage System (TESS) which is now planned for 2023.

The TESS system, which has been installed and operated with biogas at an installation at SA Water’s Glenelg Wastewater Treatment Plant in Adelaide, stores energy as latent heat in molten silicon, releasing it on demand.

1414 Degrees announced that financial modelling is underway to determine the most advantageous business case for interoperation of the PV and BESS, followed by 1414 Degrees TESS.

The Port Augusta project has been a troubled one with the original owner Solar Reserve Australia unable to finance its plans and selling to 1414 Degrees for a nominal sum.

Picture: 1414 Degrees

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