1414 Degrees to progress grid-scale tech for SmartFarms

1414 Degrees

Less than three months after flicking the switch at the site of its first commercial installation, South Australian-based energy innovator 1414 Degrees has partnered with heavyweight technical agribusiness and finance partners to identify and develop SmartFarm projects using the company’s Thermal Energy Storage Solution (TESS).

Working in partnership with integrated electrical and electronic technology provider Ampcontrol and renewable energy project developer BE Power, 1414 Degrees is also partnering with a farm developer to examine a range of joint project opportunities across Australia, including at a greenfield site in the Northern Adelaide Plains. That project would see 1414 Degrees integrating its grid scale storage solution, TESS-GRID, into a protected cropping farm development by east coast horticulture company, Nectar Farms.

1414 Degrees Chairman Dr Kevin Moriarty said, “Nectar Farms is in the process of establishing an $80 million advanced protected cropping facility in Victoria, involving 10 hectares of glasshouses and a large nursery. The business is now working with 1414 Degrees on a similar development.

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“We see enormous synergy between Nectar Farms, which has a stated aim to protect the environment through clean energy, resource conservation and clever planning, and the entrepreneurial model of 1414 Degrees.

“The integration of our technologies would result in the first SmartFarm development of its kind globally, delivering another opportunity for our state to lead innovation, address energy costs and stability, and support job creation.”

BE Power is currently developing more than 300MW of renewable energy projects across grid connected solar PV, utility scale batteries, pumped hydro and biogas power disciplines. The company has extensive experience developing, financing and operating renewable energy projects.

Ampcontrol, which approached 1414 Degrees to assess the TESS technology for inclusion in the Nectar Farms project, is a global business delivering electrical, electronic and control solutions to improve safety and efficiency in mining, renewable, infrastructure and industrial applications.

Dr Moriarty said early feasibility stages of the northern Adelaide site were expected to progress during the current quarter. The site sits adjacent to a distribution substation at an SA Water site housing a generator embedded on the National Electricity Market (NEM), and the plan is to use the substation for electricity supply and generation from the TESS-GRID while providing heat to Nectar Farms.

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“The Nectar Farms project presents a terrific opportunity for our technology to revolutionise the approach of Australian and international industry to energy storage and heat generation. Several other development sites in South Australia and Victoria will be assessed,” Dr Moriarty said.

“We have been modelling the revenues to be expected from operating the TESS-GRID and our smaller TESSIND technology on the NEM. Scenarios for energy trading range from those based on contracts for supply from an aggregator to direct exposure to wholesale pricing – and combinations of both.”

Recently, 1414 Degrees successfully completed commissioning of its biogas solution – GAS-TESS – delivering world-leading technology integrating energy generation from biogas with storage at SA Water’s Glenelg Wastewater Treatment Plant. SA Water and 1414 Degrees have partnered to test the commercial model for the GAS-TESS, an arrangement that will see 1414 Degrees purchasing gas at the market price of methane and selling electricity at the NEM price.

“These projects put 1414 Degrees front and centre in the national and international energy storage and heat generation markets, and demonstrate our commitment to delivering energy for all, at all times,” Dr Moriarty said.

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