EnerVenue CEO discusses metal hydrogen batteries and recent Pine Gate deal

Metal hydrogen battery manufacturer EnerVenue has had quite a busy 1H22 inking orders to supply Pine Gate Renewables and Puerto Rico-based Grupo Sonnell.

The Fremont, California-based company is amongst a number of startups swimming against the grain by manufacturing and selling non-lithium-ion batteries to manufacturers of energy storage systems. As reported, the storage industry continues to widely embrace lithium-ion batteries despite global supply chain issues and competing demand from electric vehicle manufacturers.

“The key difference [for EnerVenue] is that metal hydrogen lacks degradation properties,” said EnerVenue CEO Jorg Heinemann in an interview with NPM. “The cost of our battery will track similarly with lithium-ion over time, but customers are willing to pay more because there are no maintenance or replacement costs associated with our battery.”

This thesis is being put to the test at EnerVenue’s pilot manufacturing plant in Fremont which is expected to be able to produce batteries capable of generating 100 MWh annually once it reaches full capacity by the end of the year. The next step is to build a giga-factory and it has identified a site in the Midwest. Heinemann said the company will have further news on those plans going forward.

The batteries that EnerVenue builds are similar to a fuel cell. A charge is applied to get a catalytic reaction that generates hydrogen. When you discharge the battery, hydrogen gets re-absorbed into water. It is also weather-proof, as it has survived temperatures as extreme as 130 degrees and 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.

“It’s the perfect battery for stationary use,” said Heinemann.

The battery itself traces its roots to NASA, where satellites used them during load shifts when the solar panels were not facing the sun, and no other technology offered anywhere near the 30,000 charge/discharge cycle life.

The company’s founder, Stanford Professor Yi Cui, and CTO Dr. Majid Keshavarz looked at the materials used and discovered it was easy to mass manufacture and use proven technology at a more affordable price.

The company was capitalized in September 2021 with a USD 125m Series A financing from Schlumberger New Energy, ARAMCO and others.

Under its agreement with Pine Gate, the renewable developer will deploy 2,400 MWh of EnerVenue’s battery storage systems in the US to support its growing energy storage project pipeline under a four-year agreement.

“Pine Gate is a strong IPP exploring market changes and new renewable use cases and technologies,” said Heinemann.

Pine Gate’s CEO Ben Catt told NPM last week that the storage will be paired with its solar projects, but also will consider standalone storage as part of the agreement.

*This story was originally published exclusively for NPM subscribers in June.


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