FuturEnergy Ireland has announced its intention to build Europe’s first iron-air battery energy storage system (BESS).
The company has submitted a planning application for the proposed Ballynahone Energy Storage project to Donegal County Council. If approved, the project will be located next to the Trillick Substation, near the town of Buncrana in County Donegal. The first and smallest project will have a capacity of 10MW/1GWh, while later projects on the site will have a maximum capacity of 8GWh.
Iron-air batteries work on the principle of reversible rusting. When the battery discharges energy, the system takes oxygen from the air and converts the iron metal into iron oxide, also known as rust. As the battery charges, an electric current converts the rust back into iron, and the system emits oxygen. These batteries can discharge energy at full power for up to 100 hours.
Paul Blount, portfolio director at FuturEnergy Ireland, said: “Ireland’s energy sector decarbonisation targets are among the most ambitious of any country in the world. If we want to realize these ambitions, it is not enough to simply keep building more wind and solar energy projects. We need new technologies with the ability to time-shift very large energy volumes at low cost if we are to fully decarbonize our energy system in a way that is affordable to consumers.
“Iron-air technology was selected by FuturEnergy Ireland following a robust tender process. Based on the analysis conducted by our team, we believe that this technology has the potential to be a game changer for the Irish energy system. Form Energy, the American company behind this groundbreaking iron-air technology, is making a major impact on other energy markets.”
Form Energy and iron-air batteries
Indeed, Form Energy has made a big splash in the global energy sector, with iron-air technology disrupting the industry.
The company recently broke ground on its first pilot projectas described on our sister site Energy storage news. Financing offers are plentiful for Form Energy, after recently becoming a A cash injection of $147m (£109m). from the US Department of Energy (DOE) for a new project at a disused paper mill in Maine, USA.
Form Energy has also secured grants for projects in California, West Virginia, And New Yorkand signed an agreement with Utility company Puget Sound Energy in Washington state.
