Korea Zinc, the holding company of Australian zinc refiner Sun Metals, agreed earlier this month to deploy Swiss company Energy Vault’s long-duration, gravity-based energy storage technology at Sun’s north Queensland zinc refinery.
Energy Vault’s grid-scale energy storage solutions, inspired by pumped hydro plants, harness the principles of gravity and kinetic energy to store and dispatch energy by lifting and lowering composite bricks or “mobile masses” made from recycled and locally sourced materials.
Sun is aiming to be a trailblazer in the production of “green zinc” within the overarching target of parent Korea Zinc to use 100% renewable power by 2040 with an interim target of 80% renewable by 2030.
In 2017, Sun achieved the distinction of being the first major energy user in Australia to construct its own solar farm. The zinc refiner is currently the second largest consumer of electricity in Queensland, Australia with more than 1 terawatt hours of consumption per annum.
In a further boost to sustainability, tailings and other refining waste materials at Sun could potentially find eco-friendly and useful application in Energy Vault’s composite blocks.
“Energy Vault’s innovative storage technology and energy management software platform can play a key role in enabling and accelerating our decarbonization strategy as we enhance our ability to power our operations with renewable energy,” said Yun B. Choi, Vice Chairman of Korea Zinc, in a statement.
Sources: Renew Economy and Business Wire
Image Source: Energy Vault Photo Gallery