The Future Of Utility-Scale Batteries (Featuring Form Energy)

Jonathan Schramm

The Power Grid Need For Batteries

Batteries have evolved from a cheap component of small electronics to an expensive key component in the EV revolution. But there is another segment besides mobility that requires an increasingly large amount of battery capacity: the power grid.

Renewables are growing as a part of total electric power generation. But they are also more intermittent than fossil fuel-based power plants, as they mostly produce power when the sun shines or the wind blows. This might not coincide with the time of peak consumption, often in the evening or winter. The power grid does not store any electricity but needs to be balanced between production and consumption at all times.

So the more renewables generation, the more batteries will be needed to keep your power grid stable. This is a major area of new energy investment, with utility-scale battery projects scheduled to more than triple the current capacity by 2025.

Source: EIA

For now, a lot of these batteries parks are using lithium-ion batteries. But this might change.

Different Needs

For now, the battery industry has evolved mostly to cater to the small electronics and EV market. This is because both share similar requirements for the ideal battery:

Small and lightweight, so with high density as measured in Wh/kg.
Operate in a “normal” temperature range.
Not extremely price-sensitive.
Can last at least 5-10 years, with approximately a full charge per day.

For this specific set of criteria, lithium-ion technology has so far been the best for battery technology. This might change soon, with possibilities like solid-state batteries, sodium-ion, or lithium-ferrum-phosphate (LFP) batteries as potential alternatives. You can read more about it in our article: “The Future of Mobility – Battery Tech”.

But power grid / utility-scale batteries have very different needs.

No hard constraints on weight. Batteries are not moving anywhere so a weight that would cripple an EV is not a problem.
No hard constraints on space. Battery parks will be built on cheap land around power stations. No need to pack it tight inside the frame of a computer or an EV.
High temperatures are not so problematic. If a specific chemistry works better at 200C, this will not cook the passengers of an EV. However, in most countries, the batteries will need to tolerate cold weather, as having to keep them warm in winter would be very costly. Something lithium-based batteries can struggle with.
The cost of each Wh is the most important factor.
The longer the battery lasts, the more its cost can be amortized over a long period of time, with utility companies used to invest with a 30-40 years timeframe.

Considering the very different needs between EVs and utility-scale batteries, it is no surprise that new technologies and new battery chemistries are being developed to provide more cost-effective solutions to power companies and grid operators.

In practice, we can expect several different energy storage technologies to “win” together, as some are more fit for immediate grid balancing, and some more for different time scales (hours, weeks, entire seasons).