Iron-Air Battery Storage Station IronGrid Goes Online in Minnesota: 100-Hour Long-Duration Storage at One-Third Lithium Cost
Form Energy's IronGrid iron-air battery storage station comes online in Minnesota with 1.5 GWh capacity and 100-hour continuous discharge at one-third the cost of lithium-ion storage.
Iron-Air Battery Storage Station IronGrid Goes Online in Minnesota: 100-Hour Long-Duration Storage at One-Third Lithium Cost
On July 22, 2028, US long-duration energy storage company Form Energy announced that its IronGrid iron-air battery storage station has come online in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The station has a storage capacity of 1.5 GWh and can discharge continuously for 100 hours -- approximately 40 times the discharge duration of current lithium-ion battery storage systems.
IronGrid operates on the principle of iron redox reactions. During discharge, iron reacts with oxygen from the air to form iron oxide; during charging, the process reverses as iron oxide is reduced back to iron. Since both iron and air are extremely inexpensive raw materials, IronGrid's levelized storage cost is approximately $20/MWh -- roughly one-third of lithium-ion battery storage (approximately $60/MWh).
Form Energy CEO Mateo Jaramillo said: "Renewable energy intermittency needs to be addressed with storage solutions across different time scales. Lithium batteries excel at 2-4 hour short-duration storage, but consecutive days of cloudy, windless weather require 100-hour-scale long-duration storage -- that is exactly IronGrid's niche."
The station has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Minnesota utility Great River Energy.
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