Enervenue signs Australian supply deal for nickel-hydrogen storage solution

Electrical engineering company Avid Group has inked an agreement that will allow it to offer its customers in Australia Enervenue’s long-duration nickel-hydrogen energy storage ‘vessels’ that California-based Enervenue says deliver demonstrable advantages over lithium-ion alternatives for grid-scale, commercial, and industrial applications.

Enervenue said its vessels, essentially the cells of the energy storage system, can withstand 30,000 duty cycles and can handle long-duration as well as high-power, shorter-duration applications. The company said the battery’s efficiency ranges from 80% to 90%, depending on the cycle rate, and the energy density of its nickel-hydrogen technology is equal to or better than lithium-ion batteries.

Enervenue said its battery technology can operate at temperatures between -40 C and 60 C and is backed by a 20-year/20,000-cycle warranty that guarantees at least 88% battery capacity remaining after that period.

Avid Chief Operating Officer Jake van Rensburg said the Perth-based company plans to install Enervenue’s energy storage vessels at its manufacturing facility and make the technology available to customers for use in commercial and industrial, mining, and microgrid applications across Australia.

“The installation of energy storage vessels at our own manufacturing site promises to significantly reduce our peak-time energy costs while showcasing the technology’s operational excellence,” he said.

“Once that installation is complete, the site will serve as a reference for our partners to see, first-hand, the wide-ranging benefits of this advanced energy storage solution and the opportunities available for their own applications.”

Enervenue Chief Revenue Officer Randall Selesky said the company’s nickel-hydrogen battery technology is especially well suited for Avid’s customers, many of which operate in edge-of-grid or off-grid locations.

Selesky said the energy storage vessels are also ultra-low maintenance, with the “near-set-and-forget” resilience of its technology delivering a lower levelized cost of storage than lithium-ion products. He also noted that the nickel-hydrogen technology does not have the thermal runaway risk of lithium-ion batteries.

“Avid customers with remote commercial, industrial, mining, and microgrid use cases will realize especially transformative benefits due to the resiliency and reduced operational expenses our technology offers,” Selesky said.

From pv magazine Australia.