EnerVenue to supply nickel-hydrogen batteries to RWE for pilot testing

Renewables giant RWE is set to deploy energy storage technology by metal-hydrogen battery manufacturer EnerVenue at a pilot project it is conducting at its testing facility in Milwaukee in the United States.

EnerVenue specializes in manufacturing high-efficiency metal-hydrogen batteries, and it released its latest generation nickel-hydrogen battery in September 2023. This is the product that will be tested by RWE, which will cycle the energy storage vessels (ESVs) at its testing facility to evaluate their performance characteristics as part of its pilot project.

ESVs offer long lifespans and can be efficiently and flexibly deployed thanks to their configurable product architecture. The most recent generation of the batteries can exceed a 30,000-cycle life and can cycle up to three times per day without rest.

Depending on the cycle rate, the ESV has an efficiency ranging from 80% to 90%, and its energy density per square foot is equal to, or better than lithium-ion batteries, according to EnerVenue.

RWE’s pilot aims to validate the ESV cycling flexibility, charge and discharge characteristics, duration, temperature performance, and efficiency. RWE will use the data it collects to develop a potential use case for EnerVenue’s batteries for future RWE projects.

RWE aims to expand its battery storage capacity to 6 GW globally by 2030. It operates battery storage systems in Europe and Australia, as well as the United States. Its current capacity is 0.7 GW, and it has around 1.4 GW under construction.

“Meeting clean energy goals will necessitate several capable and scalable solutions, and we look forward to assessing the performance of EnerVenue’s metal-hydrogen technology as part of our pilot program at our testing facility in Milwaukee,” said Andrea Hu-Bianco, SVP of Engineering at RWE Clean Energy.

The pilot will be led by RWE’s Director of BESS System Integration, Guy Moore, whose department mainly tests lithium and beyond-lithium battery technology, power conversion systems, and controls.

Majid Keshavarz, CTO, EnerVenue said that collaborating with a leader like RWE allows EnerVenue to showcase the capabilities of its technology and “demonstrate how it can drive the future of clean energy expansion and grid resilience.”

“Energy Storage Vessels are built to meet the demands of even the most diverse and challenging clean energy applications, providing a reliable, long-lasting, and sustainable answer for large-scale renewable energy projects,” added Keshavarz.

In addition to their scalability, flexibility, and high performance, EnerVenue’s ESVs boast good safety credentials with no thermal runaway or propagation risk associated with lithium-ion technologies. The ESVs are also more recyclable than lithium-ion.

EnerVenue claims they are based on “proven technology” used by NASA for more than three decades. In November 2023, the company launched a racking system which can integrate the ESVs in either 150 kWh or 102 kWh configurations. The EnerVenue Energy Rack is suitable for indoor and outdoor use, and is designed for both 1000 VDC and 1500 VDC systems.