Sun Metals Hooks Up With Energy Vault

Australia’s Sun Metals’ parent company Korea Zinc is ploughing a significant chunk of cash into Swiss energy storage developer Energy Vault.

Sun Metals Corporation is the operator of Queensland’s biggest zinc refinery, located 15km south of Townsville. The company is aiming to be one of the first in the world to produce “green” zinc by using renewable energy, with a target of shifting to 100% renewables by 2040 and an interim goal of 80% by 2030.

It has already made solid progress towards this goal with the Sun Metals Solar Farm. Operational since August 2018, the facility incorporates more than 1.3 million solar panels.

Also in the pipeline is Acciona’s MacIntyre Wind Farm in Queensland (923MW), which will provide approximately 64% of Sun Metals’ zinc refinery’s electricity requirements; adding to the 24% provided by the solar farm.  Additionally, the company set up by Korea Zinc to decarbonise the group’s energy supply (Ark Energy Corporation) announced in December it will acquire a 100% interest in Australian wind and solar energy developer Epuron.

A missing piece in the strategy for Sun Metals has been energy storage – a piece that may now be in place.

What Is Energy Vault?

Energy Vault is a Switzerland-based company developing gravity energy storage solutions. The Energy Vault system utilises gravity and kinetic energy through the autonomous orchestration of lifting and lowering of very large “bricks”. Surplus renewable energy is used to power Energy Vault’s electric motor/generator crane system to lift the bricks into position, “charging” the battery. When energy is required, the bricks are control-released, generating electricity.

Here’s the EVx tower concept in action:

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And here’s the Energy Vault Resiliency Center  (EVRC) concept:

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Energy Vault claims a 85%  round trip efficiency for its  EVx system and a service life of more than 35 years.

Energy Vault Attracting Australian Attention – And Cash

Sun Metals parent company Korea Zinc announced last week an investment of $US50 million through a partnership with Energy Vault, which aims to support development of the energy storage system and renewable power supply/optimization to support Sun Metals’ refining infrastructure.

“We look forward to collaborating with Energy Vault in pursuit of our goal to become the first refinery in the world to produce green zinc made entirely from renewable energy,” said Sun Metals CEO Kiwon Park. “As the second largest consumer of electricity in Queensland, Sun Metals has a strong focus on being both environmentally responsible and the most competitive zinc refinery in the world.”

The Korea Zinc deals closely follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in December between Energy Vault and Australian resources company BHP. That partnership will focus on delving into the application of Energy Vault’s technology to support power supply and energy storage at certain BHP operations. The MOU builds on a strategic investment BHP made in the company earlier last year.

One of the interesting aspects of Energy Vault is the bricks can be made through the use of recycled or local, low-cost materials – and the BHP partnership may involve looking into using mine tailings to produce the bricks.

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/sun-metals-energy-vault-mb2308/