Dive Brief:
- Harvard University scientists and engineers have developed a new type of grid-scale battery that could revolutionize energy storage.
- The metal-free flow battery uses cheap, abundant organic molecules to store energy. Unlike solid-electrode batteries, flow batteries store energy in external tanks, which allows larger amounts of energy to be stored.
- Next, one of the project participants plans to build a demonstration project.
Dive Insight:
While years away from commercial development, this battery breakthrough is one more sign that new grid storage technologies may not be far off.
“You could theoretically put this on any node on the grid,” Michael Aziz, Harvard professor, said. “If the market price fluctuates enough, you could put a storage device there and buy electricity to store it when the price is low and then sell it back when the price is high. In addition, you might be able to avoid the permitting and gas supply problems of having to build a gas-fired power plant just to meet the occasional needs of a growing peak demand.”