The Anonymous Widower

Form Energy To Begin Manufacturing Iron Air Batteries In Weirton To Stabilize Electrical Grid

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on wesa.fm.

These three paragraphs detail the story.

A company pioneering electrical grid batteries that will provide days of backup power for power plants reliant on renewable energy is building out its manufacturing arm throughout the greater Pittsburgh region.

Form Energy is on track to begin manufacturing the new kind of grid asset this spring, one the company says is sorely needed in a destabilized climate. As bonuses, it’s cheap — made of earth-abundant and predominantly domestically sourced materials — and Form needs a large, maker workforce to pull it off.

This is a welcomed development in the community of Weirton, West Virginia, which has seen population and industry decline steadily since the 1970s. Most recently, Cleveland-Cliffs — a neighbor company in the small town — announced it would idle its tinplate production plant and lay off up to 900 employees.

I like Form Energy’s iron-air batteries.

They would appear to be a direct replacement for lithium-ion batteries in stationary applications likeBattery-Energy Storage Systems (BESS).

I suspect they will work eoth the grid-balancing software developed for lithium-ion batteries.

• They use rust and air to store energy.
• The science came out of MIT.
• The venture is well-backed by the likes of Bill Gates.

There’s more about this factory on this page of their web site.

• The web site talks of innovative software, like grid modelling software.
• They aim to start production in the second half of this year.
• At full production the factory will employ 750 people.
• The annual production will be 500 MW of batteries.

This is a company to watch.

February 20, 2024 - Posted by AnonW | Energy, Energy Storage | Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), Form Energy