Metal Battery Production Begins

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【Summary】Startup Ambri is set to put its liquid metal battery into service on the electrical grid next year. The battery technology is cheaper and simpler than lithium-ion batteries, using molten metal electrodes and a salt electrolyte. It is more durable, non-flammable, and retains 95% of its capacity after 20 years. However, the technology needs to reduce costs to be competitive with traditional power plants. Other promising energy storage technologies include phase-change materials.

FutureCar Staff Aug 24, 2023 9:55 AM PT

The news is filled with promises of new clean energy technologies, but many of these innovations never make it to the production stage. Whether it's due to cost constraints, production challenges, or scalability issues, we are often left disappointed by industry breakthroughs that never materialize.

Multi-layered solar panels, wave and tidal energy, and hydrogen fuel cells are all examples of real technologies that have struggled to compete with lower-cost, simpler, and more established alternatives. However, one technology that seems to be defying this trend is the liquid metal battery, which is being developed by startup Ambri and is set to be deployed on the electrical grid next year.

Ambri's battery technology is already positioned to be disruptive, with a cost of about half that of lithium-ion batteries, which currently cost around $405 per kilowatt-hour. The construction method of Ambri's batteries is also simpler, using molten metal electrodes and a molten salt electrolyte. This not only makes the batteries more durable, but also non-flammable and resistant to degradation over time. According to the company's testing results, the battery is expected to retain 95% of its capacity even after 20 years of use. The only potential obstacle in scaling this technology could be the availability of antimony, one of the metals required for the battery's construction.

While Ambri can currently produce their batteries at a cost of $180 to $250 per kilowatt-hour, they need to reduce the costs to around $20 in order to compete with traditional "base load" power plants. However, the company projects that their costs will significantly decrease and reach this target by 2030, which could pave the way for electrical grids to be powered entirely by renewable energy sources. It's worth noting that liquid metal batteries are not the only nontraditional battery technology attempting to solve this problem. There is also promising research being done on phase-change materials as an interesting energy storage solution on the horizon.