Form Energy is an American energy storage company focused on developing a new class of cost-effective, multi-day energy storage systems that will enable a reliable and fully-renewable electric grid year-round. Form Energy's first commercial product is a rechargeable iron-air battery capable of storing electricity for 100 hours at system costs competitive with legacy power plants.

History

Form Energy was founded in 2017 by Mateo Jaramillo, former head of battery development for Tesla, MIT professor and battery scientist Yet-Ming Chiang, Ted Wiley, William Woodford and Marco Ferrara.

Technology

The active components of Form Energy's iron-air battery system are

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

, and air. The basic principle of operation is reversible rusting. While discharging, the battery breathes in oxygen from the air and converts iron metal to

rust Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH), ...

. While charging, the application of an electrical current converts the rust back to iron and the battery breathes out oxygen. Each individual battery is about the size of a washing machine. Each of these modules is filled with a water-based, non-flammable electrolyte, similar to the electrolyte used in

AA batteries AA, Aa, Double A, or Double-A may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * '' America's Army'', a 2002 computer game published by the U.S. Army * '' Ancient Anguish'', a computer game in existence since 1992 * Aa!, a J-Pop musical group * Do ...

. Inside of the liquid electrolyte are stacks of between 10 and 20 meter-scale cells, which include iron electrodes and air electrodes, the parts of the battery that enable the

electrochemical reactions Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between electrical potential difference, as a measurable and quantitative phenomenon, and identifiable chemical change, with the potential difference as an outco ...

to store and discharge electricity. The battery modules are grouped together in modular megawatt-scale power blocks, which comprise thousands of battery modules in an environmentally protected enclosure. Depending on the system size, tens to hundreds of these power blocks will be connected to the electricity grid. In its least dense configuration, a one megawatt system requires about an acre of land. Higher density configurations can achieve greater than three megawatts per acre. The company claims that its batteries are capable of storing energy at less than 1/10th the cost of

lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also s ...

technology and can deliver the 100+ hour duration required to make

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historicall ...

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of ...

, and

solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an ...

reliable year round.

Finance

Investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, itself funded by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

co-founder

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

founder

Jeff Bezos Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( ;; and Robinson (2010), p. 7. ''né'' Jorgensen; born January 12, 1964) is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor, investor, and commercial astronaut. He is the founder, executive chairman, and former preside ...

, Coatue Management, TPG (throug
TPG Rise Climate
, steel maker

ArcelorMittal ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourgian multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second la ...

Perry Creek CapitalNGP Energy Technology Partners III
Temasek
Energy Impact PartnersPrelude Ventures
MIT’s investment fun
The EngineCapricorn Investment Group
and Macquarie Capital. In August 2021, Form Energy announced the close of a $240 million Series D financing round led by

’s XCarb™ innovation fund.

References

Energy storage {{DEFAULTSORT:Form Energy Renewable energy companies Battery applications

History

Technology

Finance

See also

References