Inspired | Dutch Start-up Ore Energy raises €10 mln

Why has Dutch Start-up Ore Energy just gotten funded with €10 mln?

What happens if the weather is bad for several days and you are dependent on solar and wind energy? Will you experience an outage? Statistics show that bad weather lasts on average for 100 hours. However our lithium batteries don’t last that long and are too expensive.

In comes the iron-air battery, an old and now renewed technology. Lasting for 100 hours and at 1/10 the price of lithium. No scarce raw materials and no explosion danger.

How does it work? If the weather is bad, the iron rusts, creating energy. Consequently when the sun shines, excess energy de-rusts the iron, thus storing the energy for later use.

Don’t expect to see these batteries at home however, because Iron-air battery are for large scale facilities adjacent to large solar plants or wind farms. These batteries ensure that energy companies can balance the grid even better driving the energy transition forward.

US company Form Energy Inc. was the only player in this field. The company is entering scale-up phase, having secured $800 mln of funding from Bill Gates, ArcelorMittal and the likes. They have signed contracts with huge energy suppliers.

This week iron-air battery start-up Ore Energy has raised €10mln.  This spin-off of Delft University is launching its prototype of the iron-air battery. Being the first in the EU gives them the potential to become the leading EU player in this technology.

Iron-air is just one of the technologies for energy storage, as shown in the 2022 MIT study into the Future of Energy Storage. The difference between 2022 and 2024 iron-air is that iron-air has moved from the pilot phase to the demonstrator or even the production phase.

It has inspired me and is a definite one to watch. What is your take on it? Do other energy storage solutions have more potential?

Lucas van Rijen