Zinc-based long duration energy storage (LDES) systems manufacturer Eos Energy is partnering with battery designer and power systems integrator FlexGen Power Systems to bring the first domestic BESS option to market.

Today the companies announced they’ve signed a joint development agreement (JDA) to develop and commercialize America’s first fully integrated, domestic storage solution by combining Eos’ Z3 zinc-bromine batteries with the FlexGen HybridOS Energy Management System (EMS) and a domestic inverter and transformer package. The end result will be a customizable solution for a variety of applications, from grid-scale to behind-the-meter energy storage systems.

Justin Vagnozzi, the senior vice president of global sales at Eos Energy, expects this partnership will increase Eos’ reach and deliver more value to customers of both companies by leveraging their combined pipeline of more than 50 gigawatt hours (GWh).

“This partnership not only strengthens our go-to-market strategy, but also positions us to deliver an American-made battery storage solution critical to securing America’s energy independence and national security,” Vagnozzi added.

North Carolina-based FlexGen utilizes its HybridOS EMS and Lifecycle service team to manage a rapidly growing fleet of energy storage assets for investor-owned utilities, municipal and cooperative utilities, and independent power producers.

Over time, Eos expects to source nearly 100% of the materials supply for the Eos Z3 battery from the United States. Domestic clean energy solutions are a hot commodity right now, as the U.S. scales critical manufacturing sectors, spurred by billions of dollars in Inflation Reduction Act investments. Companies are clamoring for domestic storage options in particular. When launched, this integrated solution is expected to deliver a competitive U.S. manufactured option to the market that utilizes the highest level of domestic content available.

A unique storage solution

Eos Energy, founded in Edison, New Jersey, offers an aqueous zinc battery designed to overcome the limitations of conventional lithium-ion, lead-acid, sodium-sulfur, and vanadium redox chemistries for stationary battery storage applications. The company contends its made-in-America solution is safe, scalable, efficient, and sustainable, providing utility, industrial, and commercial customers with 3 to 12-hour applications. The technology of the Z3 is specifically designed for long-duration grid-scale stationary battery storage that can assist in meeting the energy grids’ growing demand with increasing amounts of renewable energy penetration. Critically, Eos batteries are non-flammable and do not require active cooling to operate. The batteries can achieve 100% depth of discharge, do not degrade based on age, and are rated for 6,000 charge/discharge cycles before degradation.

Earlier this month, Eos Energy closed on a $303.5 million loan guarantee with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) to finance the construction of two state-of-the-art production lines producing the Eos Z3 in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania. Two additional lines in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, may also be included as part of the loan guarantee. All four lines are expected to manufacture 8 GWh of storage capacity annually by 2027, or enough to provide electricity to over 300,000 average U.S. homes instantaneously or meet the annual electricity needs of approximately 130,000 homes if fully charged and discharged daily. The project is expected to create and maintain up to 1000 jobs.

According to the latest Energy Storage Monitor report, in the third quarter of 2024, the United States deployed a total of 3,806 MW and 9,931 megawatt-hours MW of energy storage, a new Q3 record and an 80% and 58% increase over the same span in 2023. Most of that fresh capacity came courtesy of utility-connected batteries. 

Originally published in Renewable Energy World.

Among its latest playthings? Energy Storage Vessels (ESVs) made by EnerVenue, an alternative chemistry battery startup that emerged from Fremont, California during the pandemic summer of 2020. EnerVenue’s metal-hydrogen batteries offer a lower-cost, zero-maintenance alternative to lithium-ion batteries without concern for thermal runaway or propagation, eliminating the need for auxiliary fire suppression solutions. EnerVenue says its ESVs are designed to exceed a 30,000-cycle lifespan and can cycle up to three times per day without rest.

RWE is taking a closer look at EnerVenue’s signature product in a pilot project at its Milwaukee-area testing facility, cycling the ESVs to examine their performance. RWE wants to validate their cycling flexibility, charge/discharge characteristics, duration, temperature performance, and efficiency. RWE says it will use the data collected to align EnerVenue’s technology for potential future applications in its projects.

“Grid-scale energy storage that promises to be safer, flexible, and more durable offers great potential for meeting our continuously growing demand for energy,” said Andrea Hu-Bianco, SVP of engineering at RWE Clean Energy. “Meeting clean energy goals will necessitate several capable and scalable solutions, and we look forward to assessing the performance of EnerVenue’s metal-hydrogen technology as part of our pilot program.”

RWE’s pilot program, which acts as an innovation incubator for lithium and non-lithium battery technologies, will be led by Guy Moore, the company’s director of BESS system integration.

EnerVenue claims its ESVs offer several advantages over traditional lithium tech, including ultra-long lifespans and easily customizable configurations that can be flexibly deployed and scaled to meet the demands of architecture. ESVs are also more readily recyclable than lithium-ion, making the batteries sustainable and environmentally responsible.

“Energy Storage Vessels are built to meet the demands of even the most diverse and challenging clean energy applications, providing a reliable, long-lasting, and sustainable answer for large-scale renewable energy projects,” said Majid Keshavarz, CTO of EnerVenue. “Collaborating with a leader like RWE allows us to showcase the capabilities of our technology and demonstrate how it can drive the future of clean energy expansion and grid resilience.”

There are plans to deploy EnerVenue’s ESVs on Virginia State University’s campus to provide backup power to the school’s multi-purpose center, which hosts athletic events, conferences, concerts, and other community events. Dominion Energy Virginia enlisted EnerVenue to install a 1.5 megawatt (MW) BESS on the university’s Ettrick campus in southern Chesterfield County. In a testimony delivered to the State Corporation Commission of Virginia, Dominion said it tested nine different non-lithium ion BESS technologies, a process that included safety qualifications, estimated costs, physical footprint for space requirements, technology chemistry, self-discharge rates, and cycle rates.

Dominion said EnerVenue’s system provided the “unique capability to be cycled multiple times per day when necessary while also maintaining a low self-discharge rate when idle for long periods of time to be available for backup power support,” as well as the potential ability to site the system on customer property with a lower safety equipment footprint. If approved by state regulators, the project is expected to be operational by the end of 2027.

RWE currently operates about 700 MW of battery energy storage system capacity and has about 1.4 gigawatts (GW) of BESS projects under construction worldwide. It plans to scale to 6 GW worldwide by 2030.

The company broke ground on a trio of 150 MW/300 MWh projects in Texas this fall: Crowned Heron 1, Crowned Heron 2, and Cartwheel 1, each expected to come online next year.

In October, RWE submitted a finalized proposal for an offshore wind joint venture with utility National Grid. Community Offshore Wind could generate 2.8 GW of clean energy, making it the largest proposal received by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to date. 

RWE also recently announced a partnership with Peabody Energy, a large coal mining company, to repurpose reclaimed land previously used for mining in Indiana and Illinois. RWE is acquiring a majority interest in R3 Renewables LLC, a joint venture launched by Peabody. 

Originally published in Renewable Energy World.

Based in Columbia County, Wisconsin, the project would feature Energy Dome’s 20MW/200MWh CO2 battery.

This announcement of a signed supply agreement comes after the companies received a $30 million competitive Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.

Alliant Energy also recently submitted project plans to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. Construction on the project is expected to begin in 2025 and finish in 2026, according to the Energy Dome website.

“We see this as the first of many CO2 Batteries to be built in partnership between Energy Dome and Alliant to continue delivering reliable and affordable energy in the communities we serve,” said Raja Sundararajan, Alliant Energy Executive Vice President.

Energy Dome’s technology uses a thermodynamic cycle, charging by drawing CO2 from a ‘Dome’ gasholder, storing it under pressure, and then dispatching it by evaporating and expanding the gas through a turbine back into the gasholder. The company said its battery can power 18,000 homes in Wisconsin for 10 hours on a single charge.

Energy Dome is currently building an identical CO2 Battery plant in Sardinia, Italy. The Sardinia plant’s completion is expected by the second quarter of 2025. Energy Dome said the Sardinia project would provide the “ideal testbed from both a construction and operational perspective.”