article thumbnail

New long-duration, extended capacity Na-Al battery design for grid storage

Green Car Congress

The new battery design could help ease integration of renewable energy into the electrical grid at lower cost, using Earth-abundant metals, according to a study just published in Energy Storage Materials. The new sodium-based molten salt battery uses two distinct reactions. of peak charge capacity.

article thumbnail

Molten-Salt Battery Freezes Energy Over a Whole Season

Cars That Think

As the pressure to decarbonize electricity grids mounts, so does the need to have long-term storage options for power generated from renewables. While rechargeable batteries are the solution of choice for consumer-level use, they are impractical for grid-scale consideration.

article thumbnail

DOE awards $22.1M to 10 nuclear technology projects including clean hydrogen production

Green Car Congress

Specifically, the team will demonstrate operation of a 50 kW SOCC system at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) using simulated nuclear power to produce syngas at a cost that is expected to be ~30% lower than is possible via alternative renewable power-based approaches.

Hydrogen 475
article thumbnail

Lux: Li-ion dominating grid storage market with 90% of 2014 proposals

Green Car Congress

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries have become the dominant new technology in grid storage, capturing a 90% share of systems proposed last year, according to analysts at Lux Research. Molten salt batteries—consisting almost entirely of sodium-sulfur (NaS)—account for 23% of all deployed MW and 64% of deployed MWh respectively.

Li-ion 150
article thumbnail

ARPA-E awarding up to $24M to 10 projects to support advanced nuclear power plants

Green Car Congress

Nuclear power generates nearly 20% of US electricity, delivering reliable, low-emission baseload power to the grid. A quantitative assessment will be done on the continuous load following capability of the proposed system that would be capable of sharing the grid with substantial renewable resources such as wind and solar.

article thumbnail

Natrium reactor demonstration project slated for Wyoming

Green Car Congress

The Natrium technology has a 345MW sodium fast reactor coupled with a molten salt-based integrated energy storage system that will provide clean, flexible energy and stability for the grid. The companies are evaluating several potential locations in the state.

Wyoming 199
article thumbnail

The Case for Nuclear Cargo Ships

Cars That Think

Researchers are considering three different types: a lead-cooled fast reactor, a uranium-fueled, helium-gas-cooled reactor, and a molten-salt-cooled reactor, shown here [below, at bottom]. A large container ship needs about 3,000 megawatt-hours a day, which is roughly the capacity of the biggest grid battery ever built.