Form Energy, a developer of grid-scale multi-day iron-air batteries, has received a $30 million award from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to develop an energy storage project in Mendocino County, California. The award was part of the CEC’s Long Duration Energy Storage funding program. Form Energy’s iron-aer batteries can continuously discharge electricity for 100-hour durations, which are sought for their ability to convert intermittent renewable generation like solar and wind into firm, dispatchable baseload power. The project is expected to begin operations by 2025. California regulators estimate that more than 48 GW of battery storage and 4 GW of long-duration storage will be needed to meet the goal of 100% clean electricity by 2045. The iron battery is composed of cells filled with thousands of iron pellets that are exposed to air, creating rust, which is then removed from the oxygen to restore the rust to iron. The technology is less energy-dense than its lithium-ion counterparts, making it a better fit for large-scale applications.
Solar Dominates US Energy Capacity Growth
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has published data showing that solar accounted for over 75% of US electrical generating
