Episode 130 | Bountiful Batteries | PowerGen+ Series (Live)





Lithium Ion batteries are the rock stars of of the storage space right now. They power cars, electronics, and even utility-scale storage for renewable energy. But I believe we’re asking too much of lithium. Shouldn’t something so energy dense be reserved for the roads? What about stationary storage? Does that really matter?

My last PowerGen Plus Virtual Panel of 2021 focused on alternatives for stationary battery storage. All these technologies are affordable, reliable, and most importantly, abundant. If the last two years has taught us anything, it’s that some critical supply chains might be better off closer to home. The supply chain to build a single lithium ion battery pack stretches across the globe. My guests say their batteries’ raw materials could be sourced wherever they’re used.

My panelists are:

Oregon-based ZincFive specializes in a Nickel Zinc technology. Dan says the company has had a lot of success with Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS). ZincFive has emphasized the “green” properties of their technology, particularly that all but the separator can be recycled.

I profiled London-based Invinity in Episode 89. The only flow battery on the panel, Invinity uses a vanadium-solution electrolyte that does not degrade over time.

And New York-based Urban Electric Power has a Zinc-Manganese Dioxide battery, very similar to AA batteries in your home (I’ve profiled zinc technologies in Episodes 56 and 121). Gautam says their “Generation 2” technology is more energy dense than lithium.

I was curious how much energy density really mattered for stationary storage. Isn’t everything sitting on the ground. Ed said while there is some forgiveness, batteries can’t simply sprawl. In some applications, like server farms or interior space, real estate can be in short supply.

For these companies, which have obvious advantages to lithium in the “medium-duration” storage space, it comes down to three things, according to Ed:
  1. More renewables means more projects and more storage needed
  2. People are buying systems so that the storage technology behind it doesn’t matter
  3. “It makes people money!” People can save when they produce their own energy

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