Toshiba and MGA Thermal Apply EtaPRO® Digital Twin and Predictive Analytics to Long-Duration Energy Storage
First application of the EtaPRO platform to thermal energy storage combines proven asset analytics with MGA Thermal’s cutting-edge technology.
Real-time ETES Dashboard displaying individual thermal block temperatures, system state of charge, charging speed, and gas flow conditions. Active charging blocks are highlighted, providing operators with clear visibility of energy storage performance and thermal distribution across the system.
Toshiba International Corporation Pty. Ltd (TIC) and MGA Thermal have deployed EtaPRO® monitoring, digital twin, and predictive analytics technology at MGA Thermal’s 5 MWh Demonstration Plant in Tomago, New South Wales. The project marks the first application of the EtaPRO platform to thermal energy storage.
The collaboration combines MGA Thermal’s long-duration energy storage technology with Toshiba’s experience in power generation performance monitoring and asset reliability. It demonstrates how established analytics tools can be adapted to support the development and optimisation of next-generation energy technologies, including MGA Thermal’s thermal energy storage technology.
A proven analytics platform applied to thermal energy storage
The deployment of the EtaPRO platform delivers the capabilities of EtaPRO® Archive™ historian to consolidate and visualise operational data; EtaPRO® VirtualPlant,™ to create a thermodynamic digital twin of the demonstration plant; and EtaPRO® APR, advanced pattern recognition to identify operating behaviour outside expected parameters.
Using historical and real-time plant data, the system is designed to provide early detection of anomalies and unexpected trends, giving operators time to analyse, diagnose, and take action before issues escalate. The digital twin also enables rapid “what-if” analysis, allowing operating scenarios to be simulated, reducing the need for time-intensive and costly associated physical testing.
“This project demonstrates the versatility of EtaPRO and the value of applying proven power generation analytics to a new and vital energy storage segment. By combining operational data, digital modelling, and anomaly detection with engineering-led monitoring from TIC’s Remote Monitoring and Diagnostic Centre (RMDC), we are helping MGA Thermal gain greater visibility into system performance. Through platform training and knowledge transfer, we have also empowered the MGA team to extract value from their own data to enable the creation of a foundation that can support future customer applications.” said Matthew Rennert, Head of Technical Services, Toshiba International Corporation Pty. Ltd.
Supporting customer confidence and commercial-scale deployment
MGA Thermal’s electro-thermal energy storage technology stores renewable electricity as heat in Australian-made MGA Blocks and releases it on demand as high-temperature steam. Its demonstration plant has reached Technology Readiness Level 8 and is designed to show how continuous renewable industrial heat can support hard-to-abate sectors.
The EtaPRO deployment gives MGA Thermal the capability to analyse plant performance, accelerate development, and demonstrate how the system could perform under site-specific customer conditions. This further strengthens MGA Thermal’s commercial toolkit, enabling pre-sales simulations and analytics for prospective customers.
“Our collaboration with Toshiba and EtaPRO marks a significant step in validating MGA Thermal’s technology against the monitoring and analytics standards expected by large industrial customers. By integrating real-time condition monitoring, machine learning-based anomaly detection, and a digital twin of our thermal energy storage system, we have a powerful tool to accelerate our development cycle and demonstrate system performance to customers. Applying EtaPRO technology with a proven track record in conventional power generation to our long-duration thermal storage system supports MGA Thermal as we advance into our next stage of commercial deployment.” said Annie Lacombe, Head of Engineering, MGA Thermal.
Extending established expertise into a new energy segment
EtaPRO is used across more than 60 countries, supporting approximately 3,000 generating units and 763,000 MW of generation capacity. Applying the platform to thermal energy storage extends this established monitoring and diagnostics capability into a new segment, while maintaining the reliability, transparency, and technical support expected in industrial applications.
