Rendering: Ore Energy
Long-duration energy storage startup Ore Energy has landed what it says is the largest iron-air battery deal in continental Europe so far.
The Netherlands-based company announced an agreement with Dutch energy supplier Budget Thuis to deploy 1 gigawatt-hour (GWh) of iron-air energy storage. The deal starts with a committed 400-megawatt-hour (MWh) first phase that Ore Energy plans to deliver in 2028.
The project is notable not only for its size but also because it’s the first iron-air storage agreement with a European energy supplier. As countries add more wind and solar power, utilities are looking for ways to store renewable energy for longer periods when weather conditions don’t cooperate.
Unlike lithium-ion batteries, which are typically designed to deliver energy over a few hours, Ore Energy’s iron-air batteries can store electricity for up to 100 hours. The technology uses iron, water, and air and is designed to help fill multi-day gaps in renewable energy generation. Modular 40-foot containers are used, which can be daisy-chained to scale capacity.Iron-air batteries aren’t perfect. They’re bulkier and less efficient than lithium-ion batteries, so they lose more energy along the way. But for a grid-scale system that’s designed to store cheap wind and solar power for days at a time, size matters a lot less than cost. That’s where iron-air’s simple, inexpensive materials could give it an edge.
