Finally, a Breakthrough in Battery Technology?

By Paolo von Schirach

November 11, 2024 – Form Energy, a relatively unknown U.S. firm, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, and now also by many high-profile private sector investors, including Bill Gates, claims that it has created a new type of battery that will –finally– make renewable energy truly cost effective.

We all know that the world would like to move away from carbon-based energy at the same time embracing renewables, as soon as possible. It is also well known that the weak spot of wind and solar electricity generation is that it is not constant. All is well when the sun shines and the wind blows at the desired speed. But at night, or when the wind does not blow, there is no electricity generation. Hence the need to add back-up systems to renewable energy plants, usually gas fired plants that will kick in when there is no renewable energy generation. This makes the renewables-based systems more complicated and more expensive.

Indeed, compared to intermittent solar and wind energy, an old-fashioned coal fired plant is much more reliable. It will produce electricity, day and night, in good and bad weather. But we want to phase out coal-fired plants as soon as possible, because of their dreadful emissions.

Hence the choice to go with renewables. However, renewables without adequate, affordable storage technologies –we are talking big batteries– are problematic.

Most of us know about lithium-ion battery technology. It is normally used in cellphones, other electronic devices, and electric vehicles. Lithium-ion batteries can also be assembled in large numbers for the purpose of electrical energy storage. However, we also know that these lithium batteries are expensive because lithium is relatively scarce and mining it is a costly operation.

And here comes Form Energy. What if we could store huge amounts of electricity in ultra cheap batteries that use iron and air? This is their claim. Simple, low-cost, effective batteries made with widely available, cheap iron. These batteries will be stacked up at will, in a modular fashion, creating small, large or extra-large electricity reservoirs that will be able to deliver at least 1.5 megawatts of energy for at least 100 hours. These iron-based batteries are environmentally safe and can be placed anywhere, including in urban areas. They will be connected to the grid. They can work well in combination with other facilities using lithium-ion batteries.

Too good to be true? We shall see. We all know that many startups, notwithstanding huge financial backing, in the end fail. But let’s assume for a moment that this battery innovation will work as advertised.

This would be a major inflection point in the technological race that should lead us to a non-carbon energy environment. Once we have solved the storage issue, many impediments on the way to the wider adoption of renewable energy will vanish.

How will Form Energy solve this formidable challenge? This is from the company’s website:

“To run the grid reliably and affordably, we need new cost-effective technologies capable of storing electricity for multiple days. [bold added] In pursuit of this, we have reinvented and optimized the iron-air battery for the electric grid. The active components of our iron-air battery system are some of the safest, cheapest, and most abundant materials on the planet — low-cost iron, water, and air. Iron-air batteries are the best solution to balance the multi-day variability of renewable energy due to their extremely low cost, safety, durability, and global scalability.”

“Form’s internal analytics predict that over the next decade, achieving Form’s cost and performance targets will unlock tens of gigawatts of demand for multi-day storage in the U.S. and accelerate the country’s trajectory towards a more reliable and resilient, clean electric grid. At such levels of deployment, Form’s technology will catalyze billions of dollars in savings to American electricity consumers.”

It seems that at least some high-profile investors are convinced that this battery technology will work. They poured $ 1.2 billion into Form Energy. As reported in a Canary Media article:

” The startup’s latest funding round, led by new investors T. Rowe Price and GE Vernova, features a who’s who of cleantech financiers with a penchant for trickier sectors like long-duration energy storage. Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Prelude Ventures, MIT’s Engine Ventures, and utility-backed investment fund Energy Impact Partners participated in the round. Other investors included TPG Rise Climate, Capricorn’s Technology Impact Funds, Coatue, NGP, Temasek, GIC, Claure Group, Gigascale Capital, Blindspot Ventures, and VamosVentures.”

The U.S. Department of Energy is providing $ 147 million to Form Energy for a very ambitious project. It will be in the state of Maine. The batteries assembled there should be able to provide 85 magawatts for 100 hours.

So, there we have it. Iron-based cheap batteries, at 1/10 the cost of lithium. Hundreds of hours of energy stored. Let’s hope it really works.

Paolo von Schirach is the President of the Global Policy Institute, a Washington DC think tank, and Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Bay Atlantic University, also in Washington, DC. He is also the Editor of the Schirach Report.

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