Batteries

Long-duration energy storage

The biggest grid storage project using old batteries is online in Texas

Startup Element Energy set out to prove that second-life batteries could deliver cheaper energy storage safely and at scale.

By Julian Spector . 21 November 2024

Startup Element Energy installed 53 megawatt-hours of used electric vehicle batteries in West Texas earlier this year, the largest project of its kind so far. (Element Energy)

Long-duration energy storage

Why Energy Vault went from disrupting batteries to selling them

The buzzy startup raised a record $110M back in 2019 to transform grid storage with novel long-duration tech, but now it's embracing industry favorite lithium-ion.

By Julian Spector . 16 October 2023
Energy storage

Grid batteries have never been more abundant — or more useful

This summer, batteries bolstered the heat-battered grids of Texas and California, underscoring the tech’s value as a low-carbon way to keep the lights on.

By Julian Spector . 2 October 2023
Batteries

Is graphene a cleantech supermaterial? This startup thinks so

Lyten recently raised $200M to scale up production of batteries made with graphene, a material that’s light, strong, conductive — and elusive.

By Eric Wesoff . 25 September 2023
Long-duration energy storage

Long-duration storage gets big boost with $325M from DOE

The department selected nine proposals with the goal of accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies, which could be key to cleaning up the grid.

By Julian Spector . 22 September 2023
Batteries

Chart: The remarkable rise of California’s grid battery capacity

In 2020, California had 500 megawatts of grid battery storage. Now, just three years later, it has over 5,000 megawatts.

By Julian Spector, Maria Virginia Olano . 22 September 2023
Batteries

Looking for some home energy storage? You’ve never had so many choices

The once-tiny residential battery market is attracting dozens of new entrants, including recognizable consumer brands like Anker, Duracell and Energizer.

By Julian Spector . 21 September 2023
Electric vehicles

What do EVs have to do with the autoworker strike? A lot, it turns out

Striking UAW members want to ensure that billions in EV investments translate into good-paying union jobs.

By Akielly Hu, Katie Myers . 19 September 2023
Long-duration energy storage

Sacramento utility rolls out its first long-duration grid batteries

The municipal utility is tapping flow batteries from ESS for on-demand clean power. The project, ESS’ biggest, will provide an early test of the tech’s potential.

By Julian Spector . 18 September 2023
Batteries

A big battery is replacing this old Massachusetts fossil power plant

Thanks to a state program incentivizing cleaner peak power, a developer is building a 45 MW grid battery at the site of a fossil power plant shut down in 2022.

By Sarah Shemkus . 13 September 2023
Clean energy manufacturing

Another US EV-battery recycler just raised a massive funding round

Ascend Elements attracted $542 million in investment to make cathodes from spent EV batteries, just a week after Redwood Materials raised $1 billion.

By Jeff St. John . 6 September 2023