Sodium nickel chloride battery factory proposed for New Mexico

Desert Mountain Energy Corporation is proposing to build and operate an SNC battery factory in Roswell, New Mexico. Desert Mountain Energy’s commercial interests lie in helium, hydrogen and natural gas. The Vancouver, Canada-headquartered company owns several projects in the United States, including the West Pecos Gas Field Project in New Mexico which has 188 wells and a processing plant.

According to the company, its latest New Mexico proposal would treat and repurpose produced water from area operators for cooling and processing needs, a plan it claims will reduce the volume of water extracted from the aquifer as well as lower operating costs for small oil and gas producers. A data center would be located adjacent to the SNC battery manufacturing plant.

As part of the produced water treatment process, salts and rare earth elements will be extracted and separated. Sodium will be dried and used directly in the production of SNC battery units, while the rare earth elements will be dried, sealed and shipped on to qualified facilities for further refining. This model would minimize waste and ensure the extracted rare earth materials are commercially usable, according to Desert Mountain Energy.

SNC batteries have several distinct characteristics separating them from the more common lithium-ion chemistry used in standalone storage projects. SNC batteries tend to be more stable, safer, and have a longer life. Their safety advantages are particularly notable; they cannot burn or explode, making them a popular choice for data center applications and industrial power systems.

Desert Mountain Energy is not the only company exploring large-scale manufacturing of SNC batteries. Altech Batteries is currently building an SNC manufacturing facility in Germany. The Australian company secured a permit for its plant in March of this year through its German-listed subsidiary, Altech Advanced Materials AG. The company hopes its plant will eventually reach gigawatt-scale manufacturing capacity but for the time being its facility will target 120 MWh of production, costing around $170 million.

Meanwhile, Desert Mountain Energy has already signed a non-binding letter of intent to form a joint venture to build and operate its proposed Roswell factory. It did not name the company with whom it intends to establish the joint venture. Both parties will begin due diligence and engineering evaluation and they will develop a definite joint-venture agreement for the project which they claim will bring significant opportunities to the New Mexico region.