Iron-air batteries have been an attractive proposition for grid-scale energy storage for a while. Although to date, few have dared to contemplate an eighty-five megawatt iron-air battery, because of the sheer bulk.
In overview terms the battery breathes in oxygen while it discharges, which converts the iron to rust. To recharge it is equally simple. An electric current converts the rust back to iron, while the battery breathes out oxygen.
Advantages Of Using Multi-Megawatt Iron Air Technology
Form Energy has taken a leap of faith, and raised $147 million from U.S. Department of Energy. The company plans to complete an eighty-five megawatt iron-air, 100-hour battery farm by 2028, and claims the following benefits:
- The iron-air energy-storage system will cost a tenth of the price of lithium-ion battery alternatives.
- The battery farm will be on an old industrial site in Maine, and integrate with other energy sources.
- The big iron-air battery will deliver a smooth flow of energy for a remarkable 100 hours.
- The concept is modular, opening the possibility of adding to, or downsizing the facility.
- The raw materials are universally available and easily recyclable, anywhere in the world.
- The battery farm is safe. There are no heavy metals, and no risk of thermal runaway.
Unpacking The Eighty-Five Megawatt Project
Each individual iron-air battery module will be the size of a household washer / dryer set, and contain a stack of approximately 50 three-foot-tall cells. Each cell will in turn have its own iron and air electrodes. A water-based, non flammable electrolyte will surround both of these.
The modules will group together in enclosures to protect them from the environment. Hundreds of these enclosures will work together to form the one-hundred-hour, eighty-five megawatt iron-air battery storage. The system will then connect to the grid, and begin to trade its energy by 2028.
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