Beyond 8-12 hours discharge time, the low-cost materials used means that the iron-air BESS has a lower marginal cost per additional hour of storage beyond 8-12 hours when compared to lithium-ion, the company says.
The iron-air system has been designed for 24 to 100 hours discharge times, and while a specific levelised cost of storage (LCOS) has not been given (due to use case and geography differences), Ore Energy has stated that the systems will have a lower LCOS than lithium for LDES applications.
Iron-air batteries have been designed to deliver a slower energy release over multiple days. By providing small amounts of energy for longer, iron-air batteries could help to fill energy shortages when there is a low renewable energy output.
The iron-air system developed by Ore Energy uses only iron, water and air and is therefore not reliant on critical and often geopolitically strained metals such as lithium or cobalt and can be built completely within the European supply chain. This also means that the technology is decoupled from conventional battery supply chains.
In terms of the specifications that are available for the iron-air BESS, iron-air batteries have a theoretical energy density of 1,200Wh/kg with a deep discharge capability. Iron-air batteries have a much lower round-trip efficiency (RTE) than lithium-ion, of around 40-50%, and the BESS have been designed for at least 20 years use.
