A revolutionary iron air battery technology that literally rusts and unrusts to store electricity has made history by connecting to a public power grid for the first time when Dutch startup Ore Energy went online at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands on July 30th. Unlike expensive lithium batteries that lose their charge after just four to six hours these sustainable grid scale batteries can hold power for over one hundred hours using materials that cost almost nothing with iron ranking as the most mined metal worldwide at roughly one hundred dollars per ton and air costing nothing. The battery mimics natural rusting by using electricity to convert rust back into pure iron metal when storing energy, and then when releasing energy the iron reacts with oxygen from the air to form rust again essentially breathing oxygen in and out as they charge and discharge. Each battery system fits inside a standard shipping container and stores multiple megawatt hours of energy with one megawatt hour, powering a typical American home for more than a month giving these batteries massive storage capacity during long periods when renewable sources produce little power.
Current lithium batteries from China cost three hundred to four hundred dollars per kilowatt hour and only store power for a few hours creating big problems for power companies trying to use more solar and wind energy. These new batteries solve what experts call the duck curve problem where solar panels make tons of electricity on sunny afternoons but then the sun sets right when people come home and turn on their lights and appliances forcing power companies to quickly start up expensive natural gas plants to fill the gap. Iron air batteries are also much safer than lithium batteries because they use water instead of chemicals that can catch fire and explode making them perfect for large installations near homes and neighborhoods. Companies like Massachusetts based Form Energy are building iron air battery projects across New England and the Midwest with experts predicting these batteries could take over a big chunk of the energy storage market in the next ten years.
