Time To ACT (AQSE: TTA) has announced that its GreenSpur unit has been awarded €705,000 (£613,000) to support the development of a high-powered magnet free from rare earths that would be used in industrial applications. In particular, the magnet will be designed for use in wind turbine generators.
The funding is being awarded by the BEETHOVEN Project, a European initiative aimed at bringing together partners to collaborate on the sustainable development of magnetic materials for use in renewable energy supply chains. The rare earth-free magnetic materials are intended as a substitute for magnets that contain rare earth elements (REEs).
In particular, neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium are used to manufacture neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets, which are used as components in generators for wind turbines, as well as in motors for electric vehicles (EVs).
Stockton-On-Tees-based GreenSpur has developed a design for a permanent magnet generator for wind turbines that does not use REEs or copper coils.
Time To ACT said in a June 26 filing that this makes GreenSpur’s technology “highly suitable as an ideal application for new types of magnet being developed under the BEETHOVEN Project and the natural partner for all new magnets suitable for use in the wind industry”.
The company anticipates that the funding will help it to bring its technology to commercialisation.
“The award underscores the commercial relevance of GreenSpur’s technology and provides revenues that will help accelerate development efforts and bring our cutting-edge solution a step closer to full-scale commercialisation,” stated Time To ACT’s executive chairman, Chris Heminway.
The funding will be spread out over four years. In the initial stages of the project, GreenSpur will focus on characterising a new magnetic material that would be used to confirm the specifications of rare earth-free and rare earth-lean magnets that would be developed by BEETHOVEN project partners.
GreenSpur will then continue to support the other partners in the development of the new material into a magnet that would be used in a GreenSpur 3-5-kW demonstrator wind turbine generator.
According to the filing, several of the other consortium partners also intend to develop the new material into magnets for use in adjacent industries such as high-speed EVs and flywheels at the same time.
In total, BEETHOVEN would bring together 14 partners across 10 European countries to develop the technology, thereby reducing reliance on REEs.
The project has a total budget of €7.5m (£6.3m) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe grant funding programme. If the project goes as planned, it is expected to help reduce Europe’s REE magnet imports by an estimated 2,200-4,900 tonnes by 2033.
“This broad collaboration leverages cutting-edge research to enhance renewable energy technologies and secure a resilient supply chain,” stated the BEETHOVEN project lead, Adrian Quesada. “GreenSpur’s development of a REE-free permanent magnet generator is a critical contribution, demonstrating the practical application of our collective innovations.”
Heminway, for his part, pointed to how GreenSpur’s participation in the BEETHOVEN project would give the company access to a network of expertise and resources across Europe working to solve the challenge of reliance on REEs.
“This aligns perfectly with Time To ACT’s broader industry objective of creating a more resilient and sustainable supply chain for the renewable energy sector,” he said.
The BEETHOVEN Project is being advanced amid growing concerns over security of supply across clean energy supply chains as Europe works to accelerate its energy transition.
There are fears that a failure to secure stable supplies of REEs amid rising global demand could slow Europe’s energy transition or increase the costs involved. Various initiatives have been launched aimed at addressing this, and Time To ACT’s announcement illustrates some of the progress now being made.
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