California State Grant Promotes Deployment of 2 GWh Iron Flow Batteries – pv magazine International

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s Long-Term Battery Energy Storage project in partnership with ESS Tech, Inc. has received a $10 million grant from the California Energy Commission to demonstrate the capabilities of iron flow battery technology.

July 30, 2024 Marija Maisch

From ESS News

While most long-term energy storage (LDES) technologies are still in their early stages, flow batteries have already achieved considerable commercial success due to their long lifespan, excellent recyclability and low fire risk.

In one of the largest developments in this area, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), the sixth largest community electricity provider in the U.S., has partnered with ESS Tech, Inc., a specialist in iron flow batteries, to deliver up to 200 MW/2 GWh of long-life iron flow energy storage systems.

With the partnership set to close in 2022, the project reached another milestone last week with the approval of a $10 million grant from the California Energy Commission. The funding will be used to develop a 3.6 MW, eight-hour iron flow battery project, which is expected to lay the foundation for future large-scale battery deployments and manufacturing in Sacramento energy centers.

The project aims to demonstrate the capabilities and reliability of iron flow battery technology to support grid distribution and transmission systems as SMUD transitions to a zero-carbon energy portfolio by 2030.

Founded in 2011, ESS manufactures iron flow batteries using commonly available materials such as iron, salt and water. The batteries are designed for applications requiring up to twelve hours of flexible energy capacity and are used in large-scale renewable energy installations, remote solar-plus-storage microgrids, solar load shifting and peak shaving, as well as other ancillary grid services.

Want to read more? Visit our ESS News website.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you would like to collaborate with us and reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].