The Netherlands-based startup company Ore Energy (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.oreenergy.com) recently announced that it has successfully connected its flagship iron-air battery system to the electric grid in the city of Delft, the Netherlands. It is the first iron-air battery system to be grid-connected and fully operational anywhere in the world, the company says.
Ore Energy’s pilot system — which uses iron, air and water to store clean energy for up to 100 h — was deployed at the Green Village (www.thegreenvillage.org), a testing ground for next-generation climate and energy innovations located at The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft; www.tudelft.nl). The system charges by using electricity to convert iron oxides (such as rust) back into metallic iron. During discharge, the metallic iron reacts with oxygen from the air to form iron oxides again, releasing electrical energy in the process.
Ore Energy’s Iron-Air Long-Duration Energy Storage System Piloted at The Green Village at TU Delft (Source: Ore Energy)
The installation is now collecting real-world operational data and will serve as a testbed for multi-day energy shifting, which is a key milestone on the way to full integration of renewable energy to the electrical grid. Ore Energy’s full-scale system will use modular 40-ft containers, each delivering up to 4.2 MWh of multi-day energy storage, optimized for low-cost, low-footprint deployment.
Aytaç Yilmaz, co-founder and CEO at Ore Energy, says “Our battery doesn’t just store clean energy, it solves three of the grid’s biggest problems: it slashes curtailment, replaces fossil backup and reduces the need to overbuild wind and solar. Long-duration storage like ours is what makes renewable power reliable, affordable and sovereign.”
Founded in 2023 as a spin-out from TU Delft, Ore Energy is focused on long-duration energy storage with batteries that require only abundant, inexpensive materials, and that are inherently safe.