Metalot, the engine that rolls out the Iron Power Cycle

Start-ups register worldwide

Since the discovery that metal powders can be suitable for storing sustainable energy in a clean and economical manner on a long-term and large-scale, this technology has grown enormously. It is now believed that the Iron Power Cycle could be one of the missing puzzle pieces in the energy transition. Prof. Philip de Goey is one of the founders who picked up this technology in 2015 and brought it to fruition. TU/e has therefore been working for more than 8 years on setting up a large research program to thoroughly investigate both the combustion of iron powder and its reduction. Iron Power is currently one of the Icon Projects of the EIRES Institute of TU/e.

But research alone will not achieve the breakthrough of a ground-breaking technology that is globally integrated with the current energy system. To apply and scale up the concept in industrial practice, de Goey founded the Metalot institute in 2016. Since then, a range of valorization programs have been set up and implemented in collaborative consortia of various companies and institutes to demonstrate and scale up the connection as well as the reduction in industrial practice (in so-called Lighthouse projects co-financed by the province of North Brabant). In 2020, the Metal Power Consortium demonstrated a 100 KW system (MP100) for the first time at the Swinkels brewery in Lieshout. And in 2023, Swinkels again participated in a successful long-term test with a 10 times larger (1MW) and greatly improved system, the MP200. Various techniques have been developed and tested simultaneously with regard to reduction. The final phase of development of that part of the technology is currently being implemented, which has demonstrated the applicability of the entire cycle and can be further scaled up. Metalot was the central organization that organized and facilitated the development and scale-up.

In the meantime, 2 successful start-ups have emerged, RIFT and IRON+, which aim to commercialize and further scale up the technology. The start-ups each have their own strategy and approach and this seems to lead to successful projects. And that is not surprising, because the industry is eager for reliable technologies with which they can green their business operations, because electrification and access to green electricity will not be equally easy to achieve for every party in the coming years.

De Goey was co-founder of IRON+ in 2022. Until recently, IRON+ consisted of EM Group as a burner manufacturer, Pometon as a powder producer and Metalot as a knowledge holder. Now that the company has successfully started up and has the opportunity to close the business case in the short term with the help of the new partner NOWIT, which has technology to produce cheap hydrogen and iron powder, Metalot is leaving IRON+. IRON+ remains a golden member of the Metalot community.

Since the start-ups emerged, Metalot's role has also changed. We no longer work on technology development ourselves, but connections are mainly made between parties that do and the community that is eagerly looking for

solutions for the greening crisis it is experiencing. It is now about supporting the companies and institutes involved, without fulfilling a commercial role. Metalot is developing into the spider in the web that develops, supports and brings together the eco-system of all triple-helix parties (the various governments, knowledge institutes, financing parties, development parties and potential customers) around Iron Power, worldwide .

The simultaneous development of fundamental knowledge at TU/e ​​and its application in industrial practice means that the Iron Power Consortium in the Netherlands, consisting of the organizations mentioned, is a big step ahead of the rest of the world. While the academic world has been focusing on the further development of basic knowledge for several years, together with TU/e ​​as a pioneer, small growth centers, start-ups and companies are now emerging here and there worldwide that are also trying to take the step into industrial practice. to make. Companies such as Fenix ​​Energy (France), Altiro and GH Power (Canada) and Ferron Energy (Australia) have recently been founded. The companies IRON+, Fenix ​​Energy, GH Power, Ferron Energy are or have indicated that they want to become members of the Metalot community in the short term. Metalot supports these companies by facilitating them as an independent party in various ways, ranging from offering test environments to sharing contacts, networks and knowledge.

Metalot has the ambition to further roll out this role in the coming years and to be visible worldwide. The Iron Power Cycle Growth Fund program, which is now being set up with the participation of a wide range of companies and institutions from the Netherlands and abroad, creates the basis for Metalot to grow into the 'engine' of Iron Power. Metalot wants to facilitate the global rollout of the Iron Power Cycle, for example by identifying and deploying cheap sources of green hydrogen and powders, but also by developing it into the central body that collects and shares the latest available public knowledge in the field of Iron Power. the ecosystem.