Ore Energy Pilots 100-Hour Iron-Air Battery
Ore Energy has successfully piloted a 100-hour iron-air battery energy storage system (BESS) at an EDF lab in France. The long-duration storage technology is considered a promising, lower-cost alternative to lithium-ion for enhancing grid stability and integrating renewable energy sources.
- The core technology works through reversible oxidation, essentially rusting iron with air and water to discharge electricity and using renewable electricity to convert the rust back to metallic iron to charge. This process uses abundant materials, enabling a potential 100% European supply chain without reliance on critical minerals like lithium or cobalt. - Ore Energy is a 2023 spin-out from the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) co-founded by CEO Aytaç Yilmaz. The company has raised over €25 million and plans to scale to gigawatt-hour (GWh) range production capacity by 2030. - The pilot at EDF's lab was part of the European Union's "StoRIES" (Storage Research Infrastructure Eco-System) programme, designed to validate emerging long-duration storage technologies across Europe. It focused on gathering operational data on the battery's behavior, responsiveness, and compatibility with standard grid management practices under live conditions. - A key competitor is US-based Form Energy, also developing iron-air batteries and backed by investors including Bill Gates and ArcelorMittal. While Ore Energy is positioning itself as a leading EU player, Form Energy has raised over $1.2 billion and is building its first manufacturing facility. - While iron-air batteries offer a significantly lower cost—projected at one-tenth that of lithium-ion—they have a lower round-trip efficiency of 40-50%, compared to 85-95% for Li-ion batteries. Their primary application is for grid-scale, long-duration storage (10+ hours) where the low cost per kWh outweighs the lower efficiency. - This technology aligns with Turkey's goal of reaching 77 GW of solar and 29.6 GW of wind capacity by 2035, which will require large-scale energy storage to ensure grid stability. Turkey aims for net-zero emissions by 2053 and is actively promoting renewable energy and decarbonization. - The global long-duration energy storage market is projected to expand significantly, with one forecast anticipating growth from USD 4.85 billion in 2024 to USD 10.43 billion by 2030. Ore Energy's future commercial systems are designed to be modular, using 40-foot containers that can each store multiple megawatt-hours (MWh).
