CANBERRA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government is backing a major heat battery project at Rio Tinto's Yarwun alumina refinery in Gladstone, the state of Queensland, to help industry cut emissions by replacing fossil fuels with electricity.
The demonstration is expected to cut on-site emissions by around 67,000 tonnes a year. Once operational, it will be one of the world's largest industrial heat battery demonstrations, according to a government statement on Wednesday.
"We're backing practical projects that help Australian industry cut emissions and compete in a global market that is increasingly demanding cleaner products," Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen was quoted as saying.
The project will integrate a 360-megawatt-hour thermal energy storage system, known as a heat battery, into the refinery's existing steam system, using cheaper electricity to charge the battery, then release the stored heat to produce high-pressure steam, the statement said.
The project includes an initial 3.6 million Australian dollars (about 2.53 million U.S. dollars) for front-end engineering and design, followed by up to 38 million Australian dollars for construction and commissioning, plus up to 33.3 million Australian dollars in conditional contingency support, it said.
The demonstration, supported by funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, will help assess the technology's potential for wider use across Australian heavy industry, with lessons shared to support future projects, according to the government. ■
