# Alsym Energy — Full Content > Complete text content of key pages from https://www.alsym.com/ stitched into a single Markdown document for AI/LLM consumption. Index version: https://www.alsym.com/llms.txt. Crawler policy: https://www.alsym.com/robots.txt # Performance & Safety Profiles ## Powering ‘AI Factories’: The Data Centers of Tomorrow URL: https://www.alsym.com/knowledge-hub/powering-ai-factories-the-data-centers-of-tomorrow/ Paul Charles of Charles & Associates discusses the challenge of providing power for data centers in the age of AI – An interview with Alsym Energy. --- ## Whitepaper – The Promise & Potential of Sodium-ion in 2026 URL: https://www.alsym.com/knowledge-hub/sodium-ion-whitepaper/ Sodium-ion (Na-ion) batteries represent the next generation of grid energy storage technology, offering capabilities and characteristics that surpass those of lithium-ion batteries. --- # Target Industries & Use Cases ## Mining URL: https://www.alsym.com/mining/ Mining Avoid Diesel, Reduce Costs and Increase Energy Resilience The Problems We Help You Solve Costly Diesel Dependence Remote mining operations rely heavily on diesel for baseline power. Transporting fuel across isolated, vast terrain introduces extreme logistics costs and supply chain risks. Mounting Pressure to Decarbonize The sector faces intense scrutiny to hit aggressive sustainability targets. Transitioning to wind and solar requires reliable backup to avoid costly operational disruptions.  Harsh Environments and Thermal Limits Mining can be extreme and limits the use of lithium-ion batteries which aren’t safe for underground use and perform poorly in cold and hot temps without expensive HVAC.  Inefficient Land Utilization LFP battery systems require spacing between containers and battery units due to thermal runaway risks. Bigger system footprint and mandatory installation away from the power plant means higher costs. The Benefits of Alsym Na-Series Safe and stable for extreme mining applications Alsym’s Na-Series sodium-ion batteries help mining operations stay up and running, no matter the conditions. Secure, Autonomous Power Generation Alsym Na-Series provides a low-cost, high-performance alternative to diesel baseline power. Utilizing earth-abundant materials, it insulates remote mining microgrids from extreme logistics costs and unpredictable fuel supply chains. Inherently Safe, HVAC-Free Performance Completely non-flammable and thermally stable, the Na-Series is perfectly suited for underground mining applications. It has a wide operating temperature range from -40ºC to 60ºC without the burden of complex, expensive HVAC or fire-suppression systems. Reduced Setbacks and Siting Constraints With Alsym cells, no spacing is required, allowing for significantly more efficient land utilization. Na-Series can even be installed directly adjacent to the main power plant, reducing installation costs. Seamless Decarbonization and Backup The Na-Series delivers the high-power, rapid-response storage needed to anchor renewables installations. It provides the reliable, fast-cycling backup required to eliminate renewable intermittency and prevent costly operational disruptions. Typical Use Cases for Mining Diesel Displacement Pair local solar arrays and wind assets with containerized storage. Establish 24/7 green baseload power to confidently phase out diesel generation. Microgrid Stabilization Deploy robust, plug-and-play energy blocks into isolated networks. Smooth out intermittent renewable output to provide stable, grid-independent industrial power. Heavy Fleet Electrification Support the transition away from diesel-powered haul trucks and drills. High power density and rapid charging keep electrified fleets running at maximum productivity. View Industry Datasheet FAQ Is Alsym’s technology safe for high-risk mining operations in severe climates? Yes. Traditional lithium-ion batteries rely on highly flammable organic solvents that create significant fire hazards in active mining zones. Alsym's NFPP+ energy storage battery eliminates fire risk entirely at the chemistry level—generating no thermal runaway or explosions under UL 9540A testing. This safe battery for energy storage can be deployed directly into active mining or chemical refining environments without the need for complex, expensive fire suppression systems. Can Alsym insulate North American mining projects from global supply chain risks? Traditional grid batteries expose operators to volatile, foreign-controlled material supplies (like lithium, cobalt, and graphite) subject to strict tariffs and export bans. As an American domestic sodium battery manufacturer , Alsym uses globally abundant, non-conflict materials like sodium and iron. Our supply chain is completely FEOC-compliant and meets all federal domestic content adder requirements, ensuring mine developers get predictable pricing and maximum tax incentives. How does Alsym help remote mine sites reduce diesel dependency? The Na-Series delivers highly dependable economics for heavy-duty microgrid configurations. NFPP+ cells feature round-trip efficiency exceeding 97% and a service life of 15,000 cycles. Additionally, unlike lithium battery options that cannot be discharged below a minimum threshold to avoid permanent capacity loss, 100% of Na-Series cell capacity can be utilized without degradation to maximize reliability and withstand extended site outages. A Better Solution for our Energy Future Alsym’s Na-Series battery platform is designed to go where lithium-ion can’t—safely, affordably, and at scale. From city rooftops to off-grid communities, we’re building storage that fits the future. Contact Us --- ## Alsym for AI Data Centers Datasheet URL: https://www.alsym.com/knowledge-hub/alsym-for-data-centers-datasheet/ 24/7 Reliable Energy. Rapidly Deployable. Without the Fire Risks. --- ## Commercial Real Estate URL: https://www.alsym.com/commercial-real-estate/ Commercial real estate Battery solutions for commercial buildings: Unlocking high-value real estate for energy resilience The Problems We Help You Solve Lithium-Ion Storage has Risks Lithium-ion batteries are a fire hazard. Insurers charge higher premiums and tenants worry about safety. Limited Space for Solutions Commercial buildings have limited space, and fire codes restrict where lithium-ion batteries can be stored. Replacing Diesel is Hard Owners know they eventually need to move away from diesel generators, but it is difficult to find a clean alternative that is just as reliable.  EV Charging Spikes Costs Adding EV chargers raises electricity bills, because it creates power spikes that utility companies charge extra for.  Alsym Na-Series Benefits Turning Energy Resilience Into Broad Level KPI   Alsym's Na-series sodium-ion batteries help developers/owners provide better energy storage solutions for commercial infrastructure. Safe Energy UL 9540A compliant with no thermal runaway or toxic gas generation.  Siting & Space Efficiency Compact footprint with no required fire setbacks or blast zones.  Future Proof Backup Power Replace generators with a clean battery that is safe indoors and provides strong backup power without pollution.  High Cycle Life & Fast Discharge Cycles daily (up to 15,000 times) to smooth EV spikes even under abuse. Typical Use Cases for CRE Peak Shaving Mitigate demand charges through twice-daily cycling without shortening 15,000 cycle life or asset longevity. Backup Power Deliver reliable 2-12+ hour backup for commercial assets with 100% depth-of-discharge capability and minimal self-discharge. Renewable Integration Alsym’s Na-series provides 97%+ round-trip efficiency across extreme temperatures without active HVAC for resilient commercial portfolios View Industry Datasheet FAQ How do Alsym batteries increase Net Operating Income (NOI) for property owners? Alsym batteries offers commercial property owners a storage solution with superior econmics. By storing energy when utility rates are low and discharging during peak periods, property owners can significantly reduce expensive demand fees by peak shaving or offset their costs by generating revenue participating in wholesale electricity markets. Can Alsym batteries be safely installed in basements and on rooftops? Yes. Unlike lithium-ion batteries, which are often restricted by city fire codes in high-occupancy buildings, Alsym's NFPP+ chemistry does not experience thermal runaway. It can be safely installed in mechanical rooms, basements, or on rooftops without the need for the heavy thermal barriers or expensive fire suppression systems required for LFP. What is the lifespan and maintenance rquirement for a CRE installation? Alsym's Na-series batteries are designed for a 20-year service life or 15,000 cycles, matching the typical lifecycle of other major building systems. Becasue the chemistry is thermally stable, it does not require energy-intensive HVAC cooling to prevent degradation. This reliability reduces long-term maintenance costs and ensures the battery remains a high-performing asset long-term. --- ## Industrial URL: https://www.alsym.com/industrial/ industrial Reliable Power for High Hazard Environments Industrial-Grade Sustainability: Replace Diesel Generators with Safe, High-Performance Sodium-Ion The Problems We Help You Solve High Risk Zones Adding a flammable lithium-ion battery to a chemical plant, steel mill, or refinery is a safety non-starter.  Harsh Environments Extreme heat and industrial environments cause lithium-ion cooling systems to fail and batteries to degrade rapidly.  Downtime Costs Millions Grid instability disrupts production lines, but securing grid upgrades take years and generators add emission liabilities.  Capacity Loss from Outages Deeply discharging standard batteries during long grid failures or extended outages causes permanent capacity loss. Alsym Na-Series Benefits Ensuring Peak Performance for Industrial Infrastructure Heavy Duty Resilience for Industry Alsym’s Na-Series sodium-ion batteries help industrial partners deploy resilient, non-combustible operational infrastructure. Safe for Hazardous Zones Deploy energy storage without the fear of thermal runaway even in high-risk industrial environments. Built for Factory Floors Operate reliably in extreme heat and dirty environments without delicate cooling systems. Resilient, Heavy-Duty Power Secure instant high-power backup to keep production lines running during interruptions. 100% Useable Energy Fully dischargeable system to survive long outages without degrading the asset. Typical Use Cases for Industrial Demand Charge Management Avoid demand charges with twice-daily cycling. High-efficiency support generates daily revenue without shortening asset life. High Power Support Respond to equipment power spikes without straining resources. NFPP+ high C-rate flexibility supports industrial applications. Critical Process Backup Secure instant high-power backup to keep production lines running, protecting critical assets and preventing millions in downtime costs. View Industry Datasheet FAQ Is Alsym's technology safe for use in high-risk industrial environments? Yes. Alsym batteries were specifically engineered for "storage-anywhere," including chemical plants, refineries, and heavy manufacturing facilities where flammable lithium-ion batteries pose a significant safety hazard. Our non-flammable NFPP+ chemistry does not experience thermal runaway, enabling storage to be co-located directly with high-heat or high-voltage industrial equipment without the risk of catastrophic failure. How does the Na-series handle heavy industrial cycling and rapid load changes? Industrial operations often involve volatile power spikes. Alsym's Na-series is built for high-throughput performance, supporting frequent deep discharge cycles and rapid charge/discharge rates without the accelerated degradation seen in lead-acid or early-gen lithium batteries. With 20-year service life or 15,000 cycles, it provides the consistent, high-power response required for heavy machinery and continuous production lines. Can Alsym batteries operate in unconditioned factory or warehouse spaces? Yes. One of the primary industrial advantages of Alsym is its extreme temperature resilience (-40C to 60C). Other battery technologies require expensive, energy-intensive HVAC systems to maintain a narrow operating temperature. Alsym batteries remain stable in the harsh, unconditioned environments typical of industrial sites, reducing both the initial capital expenditure and ongoing energy costs for thermal management. --- ## Utility & Municipal URL: https://www.alsym.com/utility-municipal/ Utility & Municipal Energy Storage that Cuts its Thermal Losses The Problems We Help You Solve Pressure to Contain Costs Utilities must think long-term about cost-effectiveness to keep ratepayer prices low while aggressively modernizing the grid.  Hard to Deploy Near Demand Storage must deploy quickly and flexibly near demand centers, not just where land is cheap and available.  Achieving 100% Reliability High-reliability power solutions are required to prevent blackouts or brownouts under grid stress.  Permitting Delays Even with secured land, lengthy permitting and emergency response planning pose significant project bottlenecks and delays.  Alsym Na-Series Benefits Built to Handle Heat, Cut Red Tape, and Keep Projects on Track Alsym’s Na-Series sodium-ion batteries help OEMs/Integrators provide better energy storage solutions for utility and municipal energy companies. Lowest Total Cost Lower total system cost and OpEx savings from reduced thermal management make Na-Series systems cost-competitive with LFP today.  Deploy Anywhere Non-flammability allows storage placement exactly where the grid needs it, not just where it’s a safe distance away.  Heavy Duty Chemistry Stable, long-cycling, high-performance chemistry is designed specifically to meet rigorous utility-scale demands.  Streamlined Approvals Non-flammability and non-toxicity drastically reduce the complexity of permitting, accelerating approval timelines.  Top Use Cases Supply/Demand Smoothing Balance the grid by smoothing output from intermittent renewable energy sources like wind and solar.  Higher System Utilization Maximize the value of legacy assets by running them at optimal capacity and storing the excess.  Avoid Transmission Projects Deploy storage to avoid slow, costly, and unpopular transmission line upgrades in congested areas.  View Industry Datasheet FAQ How does Alsym help utilties reduce project permitting timelines? By utilizing non-flammable NFPP+ chemistry, Alsym drastically reduces the complexity of emergency response planning and fire safety approaches. This "fire-safe" profile allows utilities to site storage exactly where the grid is congested. What is the Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS) advantage of Alsym systems? Alsym provides a significantly lower LCOS by combining a lower capital expenditure (CAPEX) with a 20-year service life. Alsym's systems eliminate the need for expensive, energy-intensive HVAC cooling and complex fire suppression infrastructure. When paired with a cycle life of 15,000 cycles, Alsym batteries deliver more energy over their lifetime at a lower total cost than LFP or lead-acid alternatives. Can Alsym batteries provide both short-duration and long-duration (LDES)? Yes. Alsym's technology is uniquely "flexible-duration," capable of discharging from 30 minutes to 110 hours. This versatility allows utilities to use a single asset for multiple applications, providing peak shaving during the day, while also offering long-duration backup to manage mutli-day renewable energy fluctuations or emergency grid outages. --- ## Microgrids URL: https://www.alsym.com/microgrids/ Microgrids Get Reliability and Control your Energy Costs The Problems We Help You Solve Dealing with Grid Instability Remote locations require cost-effective insulation from unstable grids, while maintaining reliability.  High Operational Costs Dependency on diesel generators or inefficient storage drives up operational complexity and costs.  Safety Risks Vulnerable environments—from remote homes to industrial facilities—cannot tolerate storage that poses safety risk.  The Benefits of Alsym Na-Series Energy Storage Built for Grid Independence — Planned or Unplanned Alsym’s Na-Series sodium-ion batteries help OEMs/Integrators provide better energy storage solutions for microgrids. Reliable High Performance 97%+ Round Trip Efficiency (RTE) and high energy density ensure consistent, cost-effective operation even when fully off-grid.  Dependable Economics Industry-leading cycle life and minimal maintenance requirements deliver the savings needed to validate the business case.  Safety is Security Non-flammable chemistry continues energy delivery without the risk of thermal runaway events.  Typical Use Cases for Microgrids Primary Power Serve as the main, reliable power source for islanded or remote locations without grid access.  Revenue & Cost-Saving Arbitrage energy prices and reduce operational costs simultaneously by storing low-cost energy for later use.  Resilience Keep the lights on during grid failures with a battery specifically designed for extended backup.  FAQ Why is NFPP+ chemistry better than lithium-ion for remote microgrids? The Na-Series' high cycle life (15,000) paired with a wide temperature range (-40°C to 60°C) reduces the need for energy-intensive HVAC and eliminates the need for system augmentation. This lowers the system's Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) in isolated or harsh environments where climate conditions are less ideal for higher-maintenance lithium-ion deployments. How does Alsym technology improve microgrid "islanding" performance? During grid outages or in off-grid setups, Na-Series battery cells can provide the high-throughput power needed to maintain frequency and voltage stability. With a Round-Trip Efficiency (RTE) of over 97% and the ability to handle rapid discharge rates, our batteries ensure a seamless transition to islanded mode, supporting critical loads without the voltage sags often associated with older battery technologies. Can Alsym batteries operate in extreme temperatures without active cooling? Yes. Alsym batteries are engineered to operate reliably in temperatures ranging from -40ºC to 60ºC. In many microgrid environments -- from arctic research stations to desert telecommunications towers -- lithium-ion batteries require energy intensive thermal management to prevent degradation or fire. Alsym's thermal robustness allows the microgrid to dedicate more generated power to the actual load rather than to keeping the battery bank cool. --- ## Data Centers URL: https://www.alsym.com/datacenters/ Data Centers Get the Capacity. Manage the Loads. The Problems We Help You Solve Exploding Power Demand AI data center growth is driving unprecedented demand for large-scale, always-available energy capacity to support facilities themselves and the connected local grid. Transient Loads Stress Equipment AI training workloads introduce volatile power curves that traditional data center architectures cannot manage. Data centers must isolate these transients from the grid to protect upstream infrastructure. Interconnection Constraints Multi-year interconnection queues are forcing data centers to look behind the meter for faster access to scalable power. Enabling 800 VDC Distribution The transition to high-voltage DC distribution is pulling batteries deeper into data center infrastructure, where frequent heavy cycling and thermal stress accelerate degradation. Alsym Na-Series Benefits Fast and Versatile Power for the AI Era Alsym’s Na-Series sodium-ion batteries help OEMs/Integrators provide better energy storage solutions for AI data centers. Designed as Infrastructure, Not Just Backup Na-Series is built for high-utilization energy storage in daily operations – not just emergency outages. Industry-leading C-rate, cycle life, and Round-Trip Efficiency (RTE) lets your facility evolve as power and energy needs change. Built for Volatile Power Curves Thermal robustness, non-flammability, and high C-rate capability make Na-Series better suited than LFP for the dynamic power requirements of AI workloads.  Bridge the Interconnection Gap Accelerate speed-to-power with islanded operation today while protecting onsite turbines from low-load damage. Once interconnected, seamlessly transition into a high-value grid-interactive asset. 800VDC Without Thermal Penalties Center high-power storage in your infrastructure strategy without the thermal risks or active cooling requirements of lithium-ion. Reduce required gray space by eliminating heavy HVAC infrastructure.  Typical Use Cases for Data Centers Utility-Scale Energy Offer front- and back-of-the-meter BESS solutions with Na-Series battery storage offering high RTE, minimal per cycle degradation, and no complex cooling requirements. Utility-Scale Power 2C/2C capability enables high-throughput response to volatile facility-level load swings from AI training and inference workloads.  Large Load Grid Compliance Next-gen 800 VDC batteries allow AI data centers to serve as active grid assets. They actively stabilize grid voltage and frequency during primary power disturbances.  Load Smoothing Buffer short and long-duration load fluctuations from GPU-induced transients or grid disturbances without the thermal stress that accelerates LFP battery degradation. Blog Post September 3, 2026 How do batteries unlock off-grid AI data centers? View Resource Blog Post July 19, 2026 Where should battery storage sit in AI data center power architecture? View Resource Blog Post June 29, 2026 How are AI datacenters different from traditional data centers? View Resource Blog Post June 25, 2026 Enter the New Era of Battery-Driven Data Centers View Resource View Industry Datasheet FAQ How does Alsym Energy help data centers overcome grid capacity contraints? Alsym's Na-series allows data centers to deploy "behind-the-meter" storage quickly, bypassing long utility interconnection queues by storing energy during off-peak hours and discharging during high-demand AI workloads, operators can effectively "expand" their available power without waiting for grid upgrades or relying on fossil-fuel generators. Are Alsym batteries suitable for both UPS and long-duration storage? Yes, Alsym's technology is "flexible-duration," capable of rapid 2C discharge for seamless response during power dips, while also providing up to 110 hours of energy for long-term backup. This flexibility allows a single battery asset to handle mission-critical uptime as well as high-throughput load shifting and extended backup (depending on system size) for sustainable, 24/7 operations. How do Alsym batteries improve the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for facilities? Alsym batteries can reduce system-level capacity costs by up to 30%. This is achieved by eliminating the need for complex fire mitigation and intensive HVAC cooling, as our batteries operate reliably from -40C to 60C. Additionally, with a 20-year service life and 15,000 cycles, the Na-series significantly reduces the frequency and cost of battery replacements compared to VRLA or lithium-ion systems. --- ## Urban Areas URL: https://www.alsym.com/urban-areas/ Urban Areas Energy Infrastructure Meets Everyday Life The Problems We Help You Solve Hard to Find Space for Batteries Demand for urban storage is high, but available land and safe indoor space are scarce.  Community Pushback is Real Opposition to hazardous battery chemistries slows deployment, often stalling projects entirely due to valid safety concerns.  Regulatory Pressure to Act Regulators mandate electrification, yet compliance strategies remain limited without safe, viable energy storage.  Alsym Na-Series Benefits Finally, A Real Battery Solution for Cities Alsym’s Na-Series sodium-ion batteries help OEMs/Integrators provide better energy storage solutions for urban areas. Deploy Anywhere Compact and safe enough for rooftops, mechanical rooms, and basements to optimize high-value real estate.  Community Acceptance Relieve community safety concerns by deploying batteries certified as non-flammable and non-toxic.  Simplify Compliance Non-flammability clears strict safety codes, helping building owners hit mandates and emissions targets much faster.  Top Use Cases Backup Power Critical resiliency provides secure power for dense urban buildings during grid failures or emergencies.  Peak Shaving Reduce demand charges and stress on aging city infrastructure by managing high-load periods.  Paired with Renewables Efficient storage maximizes rooftop solar value in space-constrained environments where traditional batteries cannot fit.  FAQ Can Alsym batteries be installed in space-constrained city environments? Yes. Because Alsym batteries don't require bulky external fire suppression or massive cooling systems, they have a smaller system footprint. This allows for installation in narrow mechanical rooms, dense basements, or high-rise rooftops where traditional lithium-ion systems are often banned by city fire codes. How do Alsym batteries improve city-wide grid resilience? Distributed Alsym storage helps cities build "resiliency hubs" that keep critical services like community centers and traffic lights running during grid outages. Even in the event of a flood or physical damage, Alsym's safe chemistry poses no risk of thermal runaway or generation of hazadous gases into the urban environment. How does Alsym technology simplify urban permitting and fire safety compliance? Alsym batteries do not undergo thermal runaway. This allows project developers to bypass the massive thermal barriers and expensive fire suppression systems typically required for urban BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) projects. --- ## Defense URL: https://www.alsym.com/defense/ Defense Reliable Power is Mission Critical The Problems We Help You Solve Operational Resilience is Hard for Batteries Mission readiness requires reliable performance in extreme climates with no heat signature.  Safety Considerations are a Nuisance Lithium-ion fire and toxicity risks strictly limit positioning of energy storage relative to personnel or critical infrastructure.  Threats from Vulnerable Supply Chain Reliance on Foreign Entities of Concern (FEOC) creates strategic weaknesses and undermines mission assurance.  Risk of Cyber Threats Connected battery systems from foreign suppliers create potential backdoors, leaving secure defense networks vulnerable.  Alsym Na-Series Benefits Provide the reliability and robustness needed for our nation’s defense Alsym’s Na-Series sodium-ion batteries help OEMs/Integrators provide better energy storage solutions for Defense. Extreme Environment Stability Na-Series batteries operate safely in extreme heat or cold (-40°C to 60°C) without thermal derating or a heat signature.  Tactical Siting Flexibility Non-flammable chemistry allows indoor siting and tight formations without the need for setbacks.  Domestic Security U.S.-made using non-conflict materials eliminates exposure to foreign adversaries and ensures a secure supply chain.  Cybersecure Architecture Domestic manufacturing and a transparent architecture free from foreign influence ensure security against bad actors.  Typical Use Cases for Defense Forward Deployed Power Reliable power for microgrids without the need for dangerous fuel supply convoys  Critical Infrastructure Backup Secure, non-flammable energy storage ensures continuity for command centers and essential military bases.  Safe Storage and Rapid Deployment Transport safely at 0% state of charge and deploy immediately without complex high-voltage commissioning.  View Industry Datasheet FAQ What makes Alsym batteries ideal for forward-deployed military bases? NFPP+ chemistry's non-flammability and lack of significant heat signature enhance tactical security, while the ability to ship at 0% State of Charge (SOC) simplifies logistics for rapid deployment. What is the operational performance if the Na-series in extreme climates? The Na-series is engineered for extreme environment stability, maintaining high performance across a wide temperature range of -40°C to 60°C. Lithium-ion batteries often require heavy, power-hungry HVAC systems to prevent failure in arctic or desert conditions. Alsym's chemistry is thermally robust systems without added weights and complexity of active thermal management. Are Alsym batteries suitable for long-duration storage at remote bases? Yes. Alsym batteries are optimized for flexible-duration energy storage (30 minutes to 110+ hours), making them ideal for remote bases. With cycle life up to 15,000 cycles, Alsym provides a "set-and-forget" power asset that ensures long-term operational resilience for isolated outposts and critical infrstructure. A Better Solution for our Energy Future Alsym’s Na-Series battery platform is designed to go where lithium-ion can’t—safely, affordably, and at scale. From city rooftops to off-grid communities, we’re building storage that fits the future. Contact Us --- ## Residential URL: https://www.alsym.com/residential/ Residential Resiliency Hits Closer to Home The Problems We Help You Solve Price Sensitive Homeowners Customers are price-sensitive and don’t like the add-ons needed to install batteries safely.   Customers & Insurance Demand Safety Families – and home insurers – need a battery that is inherently safe for property, people, and pets.  Reliability is Essential Power availability is expected for diverse needs, whether for backup in an outage or demand response during peaks.  Alsym Na-Series Benefits Safe, Simple Energy Storage for Every Home Alsym’s Na-Series sodium-ion batteries help OEMs/Integrators provide better energy storage solutions for residential. Avoid Hidden Costs Non-flammability lowers installation costs by removing expenses for complex fire safety and detection equipment.  Flexible Siting Install indoors or outdoors without complex fire codes or weather constraints dictating where the battery goes.  Versatile Performance High-efficiency cycling supports Time-of-Use savings, VPP participation, and backup power without degradation.  Typical Use Cases for Residential Primary Power Reliable daily cycling provides consistent energy for off-grid homes or high-usage residential properties.  Backup Power Discharge to 0% to keep lights and appliances running significantly longer during grid blackouts.  Peak Shaving / VPP Shift energy usage to avoid peak demand rates and participate actively in utility programs.  View Industry Datasheet FAQ Are Alsym batteries safe for home installation? Yes, Alsym batteries are among the safest options for residential use because they are non-flammable and do not contain toxic materials. They can be installed in garages or basements without the risk of thermal runaway, providing homeowners with peace of mind during backup events or solar self-consumption. How long will a residential Alsym battery system last? Alsym's Na-series batteries are designed for a 20-year service life or 15,000 cycles. This exceeds the lifespan of most home lithium-ion systems, ensuring that your investment in energy independence remains reliable for the life of your solar panels. Can Alsym batteries help me save money on my electric bill? Yes. Alsym batteries allow for "Time-of-Use" (TOU) optimization. Low-cost energy (for instance from your solar panels or from the grid during off-peak hours) can be stored and used during peak evening hours when utility rates are highest. This "peak shaving" can significantly reduce monthly utility costs and accelerate the return on investment (ROI) for home energy systems. A Better Solution for our Energy Future Alsym’s Na-Series battery platform is designed to go where lithium-ion can’t—safely, affordably, and at scale. From city rooftops to off-grid communities, we’re building storage that fits the future. Contact Us --- # Market Insights & Research ## Which Grid Storage Batteries Offer High Cycle Life and Wide Temperature Range? URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/batteries-with-high-cycle-life-and-temperature-range/ For grid-scale storage, cycle life, a wide temperature range, and intrinsic safety are more consequential than upfront $/kWh because they directly affect the system’s lifetime economics and operational reliability and flexibility. Cycle life is the number of complete charge-and-discharge cycles a battery can perform before its capacity falls below a specified level, such as 80% of its original capacity. A high cycle life means more usable energy over the asset’s life. A wide temperature range means the battery can safely and reliably charge, discharge, and operate across a wide range of ambient temperatures, for example, −40°C to +60°C. This is particularly valuable for grid storage because it reduces the need for energy-intensive heating and cooling systems that add component costs and also eat into the energy able to be taken out of the battery. It’s actually quite important to consider these two metrics together. Every charge-discharge cycle generates internal heat, and how much of that heat a cell can tolerate depends on its temperature range. For a chemistry like LFP, where performance and safety are tightly bound to a narrower thermal window, aggressive cycling that pushes the cell warmer than its comfort zone accelerates degradation and can even trigger thermal runaway if extreme enough. A wider intrinsic operating-temperature range gives a cell more headroom to absorb that self-generated heat without the cycle life penalty or thermal runaway risk. If you’re looking specifically for grid-storage batteries that combine high cycle life with a wide operating-temperature range, the range of choices narrows considerably. As shown in the table below, the strongest option remains sodium-ion. Chemistry Typical / Claimed Cycle Life (in cycles) Temperature Capability Sodium-ion ~2,000–5,000+; some vendors can support 10,000+ −20°C to +60°C; some vendors can support −40°C to +70°C LFP lithium-ion ~2,000 assumed at grid scale; 3,221 measured at 80% DoD vs. 34,957 at 20% DoD on the same cell Roughly 0°C to 45°C without derating LTO lithium-ion Up to ~10,000+ Excellent low/high-temperature performance Vanadium redox flow (VRFB) 10,000–20,000+ 10°C to 40°C before vanadium salts precipitate out of the electrolyte Sodium-ion is Particularly Compelling For Grid Storage Application For stationary storage, sodium-ion and particularly the polyanionic NFPP type has a compelling combination of characteristics: high cycle life, wide operating temperature, and in specific formulations, complete inability to go into thermal runaway. Recent literature puts typical sodium-ion operating ranges around −20°C to +60°C, although the newest technologies are reporting beyond that to -40°C and +70°C. That combination is especially relevant for grid applications because a broad operating window can reduce dependence on HVAC and thermal-management infrastructure, as well as open new deployment opportunities in unusually hot or cold regions of the world. Not being limited to one cycle per day is another major advantage because the battery can charge and discharge multiple times daily, capturing extra revenue each time depending on local market conditions. With more cycling flexibility the battery can pay for itself much quicker than those with stricter cycling limits. LFP: Temperature and Depth of Discharge Can Change Battery Life Dramatically LFP is currently one of the most established choices for grid-scale energy storage. However, its rated cycle life depends heavily on how deep each discharge runs. One widely cited aging study found the same LFP cell surviving 34,957 cycles at 20% depth of discharge (DoD) but only 3,221 cycles once that depth was pushed to 80%. A “10,000-cycle” LFP spec is close to meaningless without the DoD it was measured at. On temperature, lab tests on cells cycled at -10°C measured discharge capacity falling from roughly 24.5 Ah to 2.6 Ah after 500 cycles, with about a quarter of that loss permanent even after the cells were warmed back up. LTO: Excellent Cycle Life, Low Energy Density, High Cost Lithium titanate (LTO) is a legitimate competitor when an application demands very high cycle counts alongside broad temperature tolerance. Its drawbacks are cost and energy density: LTO cells’ use of titanium makes them markedly more expensive per kWh than LFP or sodium-ion and store less energy per unit volume, which drives up footprint and system cost. They can be cost prohibitive for applications requring larger systems such as AI data centers, but remain a good option for on-site hybrid diesel generators that require a small battery to shave peaks otherwise absorbed by the generator. VRFBs: High Cycle Life, But a Narrower Temperature Window Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) have high cycle life, but their practical temperature range is not as broad as their cycle-life capability might suggest. VRFBs are capable of very high cycling because the energy-storing vanadium electrolyte is not consumed in the same way as active materials in conventional batteries. However, conventional VRFBs generally perform best around 10°C–40°C. Below about 10°C, vanadium species can precipitate and electrolyte viscosity increases; above roughly 40°C, the positive electrolyte can form precipitates that reduce capacity and efficiency. The energy density is also low, so the systems get physically large fast. In summary, the ability to support both high cycle life and wide temperature range matter. A battery that can cycle thousands of times but requires substantial thermal management to stay within its preferred temperature range has a different system-level value proposition from one designed to operate across a much wider ambient temperature range. The Alsym Perspective Na-Series cells use a polyanionic sodium-ion cathode with a rigid three-dimensional framework that holds its shape through charge and discharge, which is what supports over 10,000 deep-discharge cycles at 90% depth of discharge. Because that same framework and its electrolyte are what’s being stressed at temperature extremes too, the cell is engineered for a much wider passive-cooling window than typical carbonate-electrolyte lithium-ion with liquid cooling or moving parts to service. Active cooling on a conventional lithium-ion system can consume 5 to 10% of stored energy as parasitic load; removing it changes both the balance-of-system cost and what a site can install without mechanical cooling infrastructure. That’s a different route to high cycle life than vanadium flow’s and it’s why NFPP+ can post strong numbers on both axes instead of trading one for the other. LFP may win on energy density at the cell-level, but the removal of unncessary components makes for a much tighter comparison at the system-level. The system level is where the high cycle life and wide temperature range of Alsym’s NFPP+ dominates, becuase it means the removal of active cooling infrastructure and other balance-of-plant hardware, recovering cost and space that matter greatly in the field. Explore the full Na-Series cell specifications at alsym.com/technology, or ask our applications engineers to model cycle life and thermal performance against your site’s actual climate. --- ## How do batteries unlock off-grid AI data centers? URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/how-do-batteries-unlock-off-grid-ai-data-centers/ AI data centers are here – and they are a different beast when it comes to the power they consume. An AI data center campus can now draw on the order of a gigawatt or more of electricity; an amount of power rivaling that of approximately 700,000 average U.S. homes. It should come as no surprise, then, the Department of Energy’s 2026 National Transmission Needs Study names AI data centers, alongside domestic manufacturing and other large industrial loads, as the principal driver of new transmission investment in the country — a stark shift from the infrastructure planning of the past centered around reliability and fixing up aging systems. Delivering a gigawatt of new capacity for a single user is a whole new ball-game, and as it stands, local grids often don’t have the spare transmission capacity to serve that load without upgrades that can take years. That gap is why, according to Bloom Energy’s recent Data Center Power Report, 61% of data center developers now plan to bring their own power if the grid can’t supply enough, fast enough. Increasingly, that bring-your-own-power strategy means an outdoor battery yard paired with generation from an on-site gas turbine. BloombergNEF has tracked 4.9 GW of battery storage announcements co-located with on-site fossil generation at data centers — about a third of all announced on-site data center battery capacity. The benefits of this configuration are starting to materialize. Storage-backed flexibility can unlock a faster grid connection outright. A December 2025 study from Princeton’s ZERO Lab, Camus Energy, and Encoord modeled a 500 MW data center using a flexible grid connection paired with battery-backed on-site capacity, and found it could reach full operation three to five years faster than one waiting for conventional transmission and generation upgrades. It also enables invaluable flexibility for utilities: battery storage can absorb an AI data center campus’s load swings, allowing the site to demand a smoother, more predictable draw of power from the grid. Using batteries alongside gas generators is a well-known partnership but has never deployed at this scale. With the stakes this high batteries are back in the spotlight and specifically battery chemistries that can do the job of serving off-grid AI data centers effectively. Putting utility-scale storage between the turbine and the GPU Gas turbines are built for steady baseload, but they aren’t designed to track a load that can swing by hundreds of megawatts within seconds the way a large GPU training run can. An outdoor battery is the buffer that prevents unexpected up and down rips of power demand directly at the turbine. Batteries are a buffer that can work in both directions: absorbing surplus when load drops, and discharging hard when GPU load ramps in seconds. Storage does more than smooth a single rack’s load profile at these sites: it can buffer the high-frequency swings that would otherwise stress generation equipment, letting turbines run closer to a steady, fuel-efficient setpoint instead of constantly following the load. A storage system with a grid-forming inverter can also establish a reference frequency for the site’s generation equipment to synchronize to after a fault. Without that capability, the grid sets the reference frequency and continuing operations through a grid fault becomes near impossible. A beneficial arrangement for data center facilities, for turbines, and the utility. The cell chemistry decides what the buffer can safely do There are two criteria that determine whether a battery storage system can do this job, and both have to do with the chemistry of the battery cells moving energy in and out. One is thermal stability: the load following use case for AI data centers, when in the megawatt scale, causes massive heat generation internal to the cell. If that heat generation is going to accelerate the degradation of the battery, it won’t be a reliable solution for very long. If that heat generation can send your battery into thermal runaway, fire risk and system instability become serious threats. The second is C-rate and cycle life. AI data center load-following requires a cell that can deliver high power output on demand, over and over for years, without accelerated degradation or the need for augmentation. Alsym’s Na-Series as a Partner for On-site Gas Turbines Alsym’s Na-Series is built to satisfy both requirements. Alsym’s Na-Series sodium-ion cells are built with NFPP+ chemistry, which is uniquely tolerant to elevations in temperature during charge and discharge cycles. In cell-level thermal testing, the cells showed no thermal runaway at 400ºC. The round-trip efficiency of NFPP+ lands at 97% with a cycle life engineered for 15,000 deep-discharge cycles. These are specifications that matter directly to a gas + storage site, because every percentage point of round-trip loss and every cycle of degradation shows up as fuel burned or capacity replaced over the life of the asset. Sodium-ion cells trade cell-level energy density for what NFPP+ chemistry removes from the system. What it buys back now is bigger than the footprint it costs: no active cooling, fire suppression, gas detection, or blast-rated enclosure. Auxiliary components like these are projected to account for more than 20% of total project cost in lithium-ion builds — cost, complexity, and footprint that a chemistry with no thermal runaway risk can simply eliminate. The Alsym Perspective Gas turbines alone can’t track AI’s sub-second load swings, and most local grids can’t deliver gigawatt-scale power on a data center’s timeline. Pairing on-site generation with battery storage solves both problems at once — but only if the cell inside the battery system tolerate wide temperatures over many thousands of cycles without adding cooling, suppression, and setback requirements that eat into the site’s footprint and budget. That’s the case for a sodium-ion cell that prevents thermal runaway by chemistry. Alsym’s Na-Series is built for exactly this kind of demanding, high-throughput, safety-constrained deployment — a cell that integrators can build a simpler gas + storage architecture around. Learn more about Na-Series cells and NFPP+ chemistry. --- ## What are the main types of sodium-ion batteries? URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/what-are-the-main-types-of-sodium-ion-batteries/ As the global demand for high-performance batteries accelerates, the limitations of lithium-ion – ranging from supply chain fragilities, plateauing performance improvements, to thermal runaway risks – have become impossible to ignore. These realizations have pushed sodium-ion back into the spotlight, and it’s not just a chemistry experiment anymore. According to Morgan Stanley, sodium-ion is becoming an $800 billion capital formation wave by 2035, as the technology scales from pilot to industrial deployment.  Sodium-ion was developed decades ago but was overlooked because the market prioritized high energy density for electric vehicles. But a shift has occurred positioning sodium-ion as a resource-secure and cost-effective path forward for our future energy system, particularly for energy storage. Sodium-ion batteries utilize sodium carbonate (soda ash), which is over 1,000 times more abundant than lithium and highly stable in pricing. The technology also possesses some distinct advantages over lithium-ion such as longer cycle life, faster discharge rates, wider operating temperature range, and importantly, enhanced safety.   However, sodium-ion technology is not a monolith. Today, its electrochemical nature is well understood and the market has segmented into three primary chemistry families defined by their cathode structures: Layered Metal Oxides, Prussian Blue Analogues, and Polyanionic compounds. Each sub-type has distinct performance profile, material characteristics, and operational trade-offs that directly dictate their commercialization paths and product-market fit. Read on to learn more about the three main sub-types of sodium-ion:  1. Layered Metal Oxides (LMO): The High-Density, Low-Cost Option for Micromobility  Layered transition metal oxides (LMO) share a structural blueprint highly similar to nickel-based lithium-ion chemistries, consisting of alternating sheets of sodium ions sandwiched between layers of transition metal oxides. This tightly packed arrangement excels in energy density, typically achieving 140 to 160 Wh/kg, making it the leading choice for compact, space-constrained applications among sodium-ion. Commercial LMOs typically adopt either an O3-type structure, where sodium occupies octahedral sites, or a P2-type structure, where sodium occupies prismatic sites. While O3 structures offer higher initial sodium capacity, they suffer from severe, irreversible phase transformations at higher voltages, leading to rapid volume expansion. Conversely, P2structures boast faster ion diffusion kinetics enabling “fast charge” and better structural stability but suffer from lower initial capacity because not all sodium can be extracted without causing structural collapse.  These atomic-level mechanics directly dictate the commercialization strategy for Layered Oxides. Because LMO chemistries typically yield a lower cycle life of around 3,000 cycles, they are economically ill-suited for the multi-decade lifespans requiredlarge-scale energy storage systems. Furthermore, at high states of charge, the transition metals on the cathode surface trigger exothermic reactions with the organic liquid electrolyte, releasing oxygen under high thermal stress which can lead to self-sustaining thermal runaway just like lithium-ion batteries. Because of these safety and lifespan boundaries, manufacturers have funneled LMO commercialization toward entry-level short-range light electric vehicles and micromobility applications like e-scooters and e-bikes. In these mobility sectors, the market prioritizes lower upfront cost and high volumetric energy density rather than safety and service life. This allows LMO to capture market share where the main barrier is affordability for the average consumer.  2. Prussian Blue Analogue: The High-Power Specialist  Prussian Blue Analogues (PBA) utilize a unique, open three-dimensional framework composed of transition metal hexacyanometallates. They possess unusually large interstitial sites that permit rapid sodium-ion insertion and extraction. Because of these rapid kinetics, PBAs can deliver impressive C-rates, allowing them to discharge massive bursts of power and recharge rapidly while benefiting from low raw material costs.   Prussian White (PW) is the primary chemical variant driving commercial cell development, which is simply the fully sodium-loaded version of Prussian Blue. For most commercial applications, Prussian White cathodes are paired with a hard carbon anode.  While these hard carbon-coupled Prussian White cells offer an attractive balance of material availability and fast-charging capabilities, the chemistry faces a notable challenge with trapped moisture. Microscopic vacancies naturally form in the crystal framework during production, easily drawing in and trapping water molecules. When the battery cycles, this internal moisture breaks down electrochemically, sparking gas generation, rapid internal resistance spikes, and physical cracking of the cathode particles. Additionally, rapid or deep discharging forces the crystal lattice to distort from a stable cubic shape into asymmetrical structures, which pulverizes the cathode over time and lowers overall cycle life. From a safety perspective, severe mechanical or thermal abuse above 200°C also carries the risk of decomposing the cyanide bonds, potentially releasing toxic hydrogen cyanide gas.  Commercialization for PBA is moving in two distinct directions. Developers are scaling Prussian White for large-scale grid energy storage (BESS), leveraging its low-temperature resilience and abundant material framework to provide a fast-responding, sustainable asset for utility infrastructure. Second, companies are aggressively targeting the automotive starter battery market as a drop-in successor to legacy lead-acid batteries—offering safe zero-volt storage, superior cycle life (8,000 cycles to lead acid’s 500 cycles), and significantly better operational reliability across harsh (particularly low-temperature) climates.  3. Polyanionic: The New Benchmark for Grid-Scale Storage  Polyanionic materials feature rigid, three-dimensional frameworks built around strong covalent bonds, typically built from tetrahedral phosphate or pyrophosphate groups. Within this category, a formulation analogous to lithium iron phosphate known as sodium iron pyrophosphate (NFPP) has emerged as the definitive benchmark for large-scale energy storage applications.   The secret to NFPP’s unrivaled structural longevity and safety lies in the quantum mechanics of the inductive effect. In layered oxides, transition metals are bound to independent oxygen atoms, which easily break and release oxygen gas during high-temperature abuse. In NFPP, strong covalent bonds form tetrahedral (PO4)3 and (P2O7)4 clusters. The phosphorus atoms hold onto the oxygen atoms with an iron-clad grip, resisting oxygen release even if the battery undergoes severe external short circuits, high overcharge, or physical crush events.  This rigid 3D framework provides open tunnels for rapid and highly-efficient sodium-ion diffusion. Unlike layered sheets that expand and contract with each cycle, releasing heat and gradually wearing down the battery, the NFPP framework experiences near-zero volume change during insertion and extraction, preserving mechanical integrity to deliver an extraordinary lifespan of 10,000+ cycles with exceptional round-trip efficiency.  This makes NFPP the definitive commercial choice for battery energy storage systems (BESS). The thermal stability slashes the need for energy-intensive active liquid cooling infrastructure, allowing project developers to rely on passive or simple air cooling instead.  The Alsym Perspective  At Alsym Energy, our analysis of the grid-scale market indicates that evaluating a battery technology purely on cell-level energy density misses the larger economic picture. For utility-scale energy storage, the ultimate metrics of success are Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS), safety, and system-level operational expenses (OpEx). As detailed in our white paper Assessing the Promise & Potential of Sodium-ion in 2026, the true economic advantage of sodium-ion is best demonstrated in a system context when you eliminate the costly, complex engineering control add-ons required by volatile chemistries.  By utilizing the inherently stable, non-flammable polyanionic NFPP chemistry, operators can entirely bypass the phase-transition decay of layered oxides and the lattice-water degradation of Prussian blue. Because NFPP eliminates the structural pathways that lead to thermal runaway, these systems can rely on passive or air cooling instead of heavy active liquid cooling infrastructure, reducing cooling energy consumption by up to 90%. Furthermore, because sodium-ion cells utilize aluminum current collectors on both electrodes, they can be safely discharged down to 0 volts for non-hazardous transport and storage. Capable of scaling rapidly using existing lithium-ion manufacturing lines through simple “drop-in” tool conversion, polyanionic sodium-ion represents the most pragmatic, reliable, and high-ROI path forward for global energy storage infrastructure.  Learn more about the newest generation of polyanionic sodium-ion NFPP+ technology.    Atomic structure graphics sourced from Review on Cathode Materials for Sodium‐ and Potassium‐Ion Batteries: Structural Design with Electrochemical Properties. Batteries & Supercaps. 6. 10.1002/batt.202200486. (2023)  --- ## How To Compare Grid Battery Storage Specs URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/how-to-compare-grid-battery-storage-specs/ When looking at specification sheets for battery cells used in grid-scale storage systems, almost every headline number on them (capacity, cycle life, round-trip efficiency, operating temperature range, C-rate) is a rated value measured under near-ideal lab conditions. A look across spec sheets reveals similar testing conditions dictating the spec: about 25 °C (room temperature), 4-hour charge and discharge (C/4), and “beginning of life.” Real installed operation is different from the lab, though, and conditions are becoming more demanding as battery storage expands into new regions and applications worldwide. In the field, deployment sites can run hotter or colder, demand more intense power delivery, and require more frequent cycling than the cells see under lab conditions. Identical test conditions can be helpful for comparing similar cells apples-to-apples, but it can also be a poor predictor of how the cell will actually perform in the field. Not only does looking beyond the rated values help to understand the real system requirements, it helps to see and compare chemistries upfront that may perform differently in the end use case. It also helps realize the value in chemistries that are significantly less sensitive to changes in real-world conditions and don’t need to be so heavily managed to get what’s listed on the cell spec sheet. Read the number, then read its footnote The table below shows what each spec is typically tested at for an industry-standard 280-314Ah lithium iron phosphate (LFP) 71173201 prismatic cell – and where it can experience divergence in the field. Spec Typically rated at Real-world variance Rated capacity / usable energy 25 °C, slow (~.25C – 0.5C) discharge, beginning of life Usable capacity falls in cold weather and at high current; a nominal container MWh is not dispatchable AC energy after losses, reserves, and years of degradation Round-trip efficiency (RTE) Cell/DC “energy conversion efficiency” (~96%) at 25 °C and 0.25C System AC-to-AC efficiency is lower — around 83–87% for grid lithium-ion — after conversion losses and continuous parasitic cooling, and it fades with age Operating temperature range Assumes cells held ~20–40 °C; charge window often narrower than discharge (e.g., 0–55 °C vs. −30–60 °C) Outside ~20–40 °C the system spends auxiliary power heating or cooling, or derates power; cold-charging risks lithium plating Cycle life To 80% state of health at ~25 °C, ~0.5C, defined depth of discharge Roughly halves with heat (~4,000 cycles at 25 °C to ~2,000 at 45 °C); higher C-rate cuts it further; warm sites force earlier, more frequent augmentation C-rate (charge / discharge) Peak or continuous rate at 25 °C (continuous ≠ peak); energy cells ~0.5–1C, power cells 3–5C peak Sustained high rates lower usable capacity and accelerate aging, and generate heat (rising with the square of current) that raises cooling demand In a systems context, why does this matter? Round-trip efficiency Round-trip efficiency is revenue: every point lost is energy an operator paid to store and can’t sell back. PNNL’s grid-scale testing puts real AC-to-AC round-trip efficiency for lithium-ion systems at 83–87%, fading with age, the gap driven by power-conversion losses and cooling. Look for round-trip efficiency that holds with little or no active cooling — every watt spent cooling cells never reaches the meter. Ensure the RTE is a guaranteed AC-to-AC number, not a cell-level DC figure, and confirm thermal-management draw is included. Operating temperature range Operating temperature range drives cost, throughput, and siting. A container’s rated ambient window is really a statement about how much liquid cooling it runs to hold cells near 20–40 °C — energy that never reaches the meter. Many lithium-ion cells also charge across a narrower window than they discharge (often 0–55 °C vs. −30–60 °C), because cold-charging a graphite anode plates lithium and permanently loses capacity; that forces throttled or skipped charging in cold weather, cutting throughput and revenue. Chemistries with wider passive ranges can drop the liquid-cooling loop and HVAC dependency entirely — turning BESS from what one review called “a collection of refrigerators in the desert” into simpler, more resilient assets. Look for a wide operating range with little reliance on active heating or cooling, and a charge window as wide as the discharge window — a mismatch there is where cold-climate revenue gets left on the table. Cycle life and design life Cycle life is an augmentation forecast. A 20-year design life is sustained by adding capacity as cells fade, and that recurring cost moves the levelized cost of storage as much as the initial cell price — a battery that fades faster than rated needs earlier, more frequent top-ups, eating into contracted revenue-generating cycles. Ratings are measured at room temperature and a modest rate; peer-reviewed testing of LFP/graphite cells shows capacity loss accelerates sharply above that temperature, as heat speeds the loss of cyclable lithium. Look for a cycle-life rating that holds at your site’s actual temperatures and C-rates, not just 25 °C and a slow discharge — and ask for the depth of discharge, end-of-life threshold, and augmentation schedule behind any 15- or 20-year design-life claim. C-rate C-rate sets how much power a battery delivers relative to its energy — and how many revenue-generating cycles it can run per day. GB fleet data shows batteries running two cycles a day earn roughly 12–14% more revenue than those running one, and markets like frequency regulation reward the fast response a higher sustained C-rate enables. The catch: sustained high C-rate cuts usable capacity and cycle life and generates heat fastest, in systems that already depend on cooling — so active cooling to support it can add an estimated 10–15% to capital cost, on top of ongoing energy use. Look for enough thermal headroom to sustain higher C-rates without shortening service life, so multiple cycles a day are practical, not punishing. The line items that decide siting and cost Below the performance headlines sit the fields that set where a project can go. UL 9540A is a test method for how a fire propagates after thermal runaway begins — it measures consequences, not immunity — which is why lithium containers stack gas detection, venting, and suppression and carry strict setbacks; LFP cells included can vent hydrogen fluoride and other toxic gases when they fail. A chemistry that cannot enter thermal runaway changes that math upstream: such a chemistry is non-flammable, and by removing HVAC and fire-suppression subsystems it eliminates components representing an estimated 23–30% of total project cost. Logistics improve too — lithium cannot sit at 0 V without dissolving its copper current collector, while a chemistry stable at 0% state of charge on non-copper collectors can ship and store safely, making all of its energy usable from day one. And the supply picture favors sodium, which is roughly 1,000 times more abundant than lithium and carries no cobalt or nickel. Compare at identical boundaries The discipline that turns a stack of spec sheets into a real comparison is to demand guaranteed values at the same temperature, C-rate, depth of discharge, life stage, and DC-versus-AC boundary. Once you do, the winner is not the chemistry with the highest rated numbers — it is the one whose guaranteed real-world numbers sit closest to its rated ones. That is the whole case for a wide-temperature, low-degradation, non-flammable chemistry: it is engineered so the spec sheet still describes the system after it has run hot, cold, fast, and for years. This is exactly where Alsym’s Na-Series differentiates. Its true thermal tolerance is rooted in a more robust chemistry — a polyanionic cathode that locks oxygen into a stable covalent framework and a hard-carbon anode with no cold-charge lithium-plating limit and up to 60°C operation with just passive cooling. It can sustain 2C charge and discharge without shortening cycle life, performs over 15,000 cycles (20 years) at the system level, and reaches round-trip efficiencies above 97%. Because the cell’s chemistry prevents thermal runaway (by UL9540A standards), it lets a system remove costly HVAC and fire-suppression subsystems, while also being safe to ship and store at 0% state of charge. Explore the Na-Series specs, or ask our applications engineers to model your project’s usable energy, cycle life, and LCOS under your real-world project requirements.   --- ## Most Data Centers Weren’t Built for Today’s Power Needs. BESS is Bridging the Gap. URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/most-data-centers-werent-built-for-todays-power-needs-bess-is-bridging-the-gap/ Summary: Why do data centers need battery energy storage systems (BESS) for AI workloads? Standard data centers were built for predictable power, and AI power needs are volatile, spiky, and extreme. Enter BESS – a critical component of modern data centers. These systems act as a buffer between volatile AI loads and the grid, protecting infrastructure while smoothing power delivery. Alsym’s Na-Series sodium-ion battery line was purpose-built for this role. Built for Marathons but Running Sprints In just the past few years, the demand for AI tools has upended data center power structure. Training and inference clusters careen between idle gaps and full-tilt spikes, creating volatile swings in mere milliseconds. According to Goldman Sachs, 2027 AI server rack designs will require 50× the power of the server racks that power the internet today. Legacy conductors and breakers were not built for those power needs. 2027 AI server rack designs will require50×the power of today’s internet server racks Extreme GPU cluster switches have even driven voltage flicker in the grid. Violent bursts swing from a 30% idle state to 100% processing utilization in milliseconds, which can cause destabilizing voltage and frequency deviations on the power lines. This grid-level impact was unheard of in the past. Newly constructed data centers can be designed for today’s power from the foundation up, but existing centers can still be equipped to bridge the power gap. BESS Smooths AI-Induced Power Fluctuations Power demandTimeAI / chip activity surgeLoad without BESSSmoothed load with BESSActivity surge window The Power Solution: High-Throughput Buffering for Burst-Driven AI Workloads Nearly every element of a data center needs to be reconfigured to accommodate burst-driven AI workloads, but BESS does the heavy lifting to solve a range of issues within existing design constraints. A 2C battery functions as an industrial-sized “shock absorber” upstream of the white space. It has the rate capability to aggressively ingest excess power when the processors drop to an idle state and instantly throw high-throughput active power back onto the central bus to smooth intense matrix computations. Volatile power curves from AI training workloads can also stress equipment to the point that they put upstream infrastructure at risk. Data centers need to isolate these transient loads from the grid to protect upstream systems. Plus, the past approach of scaling battery volume to add capacity doesn’t fit AI’s transient power spikes well. Centers need high-rate discharge chemistries that deliver more power without a footprint increase. To mitigate the BESS footprint and volumetric constraints, a BESS with a high-power rate capability allows operators to downsize and keep the structural footprint of the external energy storage yard while maintaining peak load-shaving performance. This can benefit data center operations in two distinct scenarios: Fully BTM: when complementing on-site generation in response to peaks in demand in a fully behind-the-meter generation situation Grid-connected: when pulling from BESS instead of the grid during periods of high AI server use. Example 1: BESS complements on-site generation in response to demand peaks when power is generated fully behind-the-meter. Example 2: Data center pulls energy from BESS during times of high server activity Building the Future with BESS – What battery works best? Alsym Energy’s Na-Series sodium-ion battery line, powered by its proprietary NFPP+ chemistry, was purpose-built for these conditions. Designed for high-utilization environments, heavy cycling, and long operating life, Na-Series handles large-scale power swings that characterize AI workloads while supporting more resilient power architectures. Specifically, Alsym checks the boxes with: High C-Rate Is Standard: Alsym cells built to tolerate 2C continuous charge and discharge with 30-second pulse to 3C. Passive Cooling: Alsym’s NFPP+ chemistry operates stably across an extreme temperature range (-40°C to 60°C), meaning it can manage intense discharging while only using passive cooling, unlike less stable batteries that require intense active cooling. Superior Cycle Life 10,000 cycles: Engineered for high-frequency cycling to handle rapid load oscillations without premature degradation. High-Density Footprint: High C-Rate BESS can solve data center load swings with an industry-leading footprint similar to that of a two-hour LFP BESS without the thermal management penalties. Thermal management can require flywheels and other large-footprint equipment. Net new, purpose-built AI data centers include higher-voltage DC distribution like the 800VDC architecture, liquid cooling, and power architectures designed around volatility rather than averages. Existing centers built for steady power instead of spiky swings were set up with completely different infrastructure, and bridging the gap is critical to ongoing operations. Historically, those building data centers had to choose between power batteries with shorter life cycles that sell at a premium, or more frequently replacing standard 4-hour LFP batteries that wear down under the intense use. BESS built with sodium ion is an ideal solution for these scenarios. Alsym’s Na-Series batteries are both power and energy batteries, equipping newly built centers and retro-fitting legacy architecture with the ability to handle the nature of modern power. Together, these capabilities position Na-Series to help power a faster, safer, more affordable, and more scalable energy future. Learn more about the future of sodium ion at data centers here. --- ## Where should battery storage sit in AI data center power architecture? URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/battery-storage-in-ai-data-center-power-architecture/ – By Spencer Nervig, Battery Solutions Architect at Alsym Energy   The role of batteries in conventional data centers was simple: they lived in the UPS room and bridged the gap between a utility outage and the moment diesel generators caught. In an AI factory, it’s more complicated. What’s Different About AI Data Centers? AI data centers are not just larger versions of traditional data centers – they introduce a different kind of power challenge. For one, they need a lot more of it: The U.S. alone may add 58 GW of new data center capacity between 2026 and 2030, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. For two, they will need it delivered much more intensely: GPU-optimized AI facilities are already moving from 50–100 kW racks toward next-generation, liquid-cooled designs that can push beyond 200 kW per rack, and experts suggest 1MW racks could be achieved by end the decade. And the fun doesn’t stop there: power behaves much differently in AI factories as well. Large GPU clusters do not draw power in a smooth, predictable line. At the server rack, sharp millisecond-scale current and voltage spikes can be created by the GPU, memory, networking, and power-conversion activity, which must be buffered locally to keep voltage steady. Aggregated across thousands of GPUs, those fast disturbances sit on top of larger workload swings as clusters move between compute, communication, and checkpointing phases. Together, these dynamics can stress on-site electrical infrastructure, create power-quality issues, drive demand charges, and, at campus scale, impact the broader electric grid. Bring In the Batteries One of the few power technologies flexible enough to get AI datacenter loads under control is energy storage. In AI factories they can perform roles spanning backup power, peak shaving, load shifting, renewable firming, frequency response, AI load smoothing, and speed-to-power when the grid connection is constrained. The nuance is that these use cases aren’t a function of just one battery system. A centralized BESS at the grid interconnection can help with peak shaving and capacity shifting, but it is challenged with microsecond-level GPU transients at the rack. Likewise, rack-level storage can smooth fast load swings, but it is not the right tool for multi-hour energy shifting. Because AI power volatility appears at different electrical boundaries and over different timescales, storage has to be distributed across the architecture. Fast rack-level transients prefer storage close to the compute load, while slower facility- and campus-level power swings can be managed farther upstream at the facility or grid interconnection, where they can shape the load before it propagates into the broader power system. NVIDIA frames the spread of needs as a multi-timescale strategy: near-rack capacitors and supercapacitors handle millisecond-to-second fluctuations, while larger facility/interconnection BESS handles seconds-to-minutes workload ramps and ride-through during backup-generator transfers. The broader power stack then extends this logic into minutes-to-hours grid-edge storage for peak shaving, load shifting, and interconnection bridging. The chart below gives of a visual of the concept: 1. At the Rack: The High-Frequency Transient Layer (Milliseconds to Seconds) At the fastest timescale, the challenge is instantaneous output, not continuous power. At the rack, GPU workloads are accompanied by sharp millisecond-scale current and voltage transients from GPU, memory, networking, and power-conversion activity. These high-frequency power spikes must be buffered to prevent voltage dips, equipment stress, and power-quality noise from propagating upstream. The common tool at this front-line are high-power capacitor and supercapacitor banks placed close to the compute racks, often packaged as capacitor backup units, or CBUs. The placement matters as much as the device. The closer this buffer is to the IT load, the less of the transient propagates into the wider electrical infrastructure. Its defining requirement is raw power density and switching speed, not stored energy. High-voltage batteries can work here, but electrochemical batteries are currently not the best instrument for this layer; their role begins where the capacitors end. 2. At the Rack and Row: The Ride-Through Layer (Sub-seconds to Seconds) Immediately downstream sits a short-duration ride-through layer. In emerging 800VDC designs, this may live in dedicated power racks positioned adjacent to the IT racks or in battery “pods” that serve an entire row. Vendors are already moving in this direction: Delta has released in-row power racks with embedded battery backup units and Vertiv is releasing an 800VDC data center power portfolio including power conversion and battery backup infrastructure needed to bring short-duration storage closer to AI server racks. The premium capability here is high C-rate delivery for brief, repeated discharges during source transfers and short IT-layer load events. Because these systems are sited close to load, there is also an important practical constraint: traditional containerized BESS does not fit inside the data center fabric. At this layer, form factor, safety, and integration with power distribution can matter greatly. 3. At the Facility: The Low-Frequency Load Envelope (Seconds to Minutes) This is where the architecture’s center of gravity is shifting. An energy storage backbone makes it practical to integrate larger, facility-level storage at a more effective point in the power train. This layer manages the low-frequency load envelope: the seconds-to-minutes ramp-up and ramp-down of training jobs, ride-through during transfers to backup generation, and smoothing of the facility load seen by the grid. The requirement now inverts relative to the rack. Energy, cycle life, safety, and OpEx dominate, while raw power density recedes. This is also where the old mental model of a rarely used UPS starts to break down. If storage is absorbing AI workload ramps, managing power quality, and supporting source transfers, it may cycle deeply and continuously inside a dense, thermally stressed facility. The selection premium shifts toward a chemistry that is inherently safe, long-lived, and tolerant of frequent use without becoming a cooling or augmentation problem due to the heavy, frequent use the battery must endure. 4. At the Campus or Grid Interconnection: Utility-Scale Storage (Seconds to Hours) Aggregated across a hyperscale or gigawatt-scale campus, facility load swings can become a direct threat to the local grid. This turns interconnection into a primary bottleneck for AI scaling and creates a different role for storage: decoupling the data center’s volatile draw from its connection limit. At this layer, BESS can support peak shaving, load shifting, demand charge reduction, grid services, renewable firming, and speed-to-power while the full grid connection is still years away. This is the layer most aligned with conventional stationary storage economics. The system is larger, more centralized, and sized around hours rather than milliseconds. Some operators are also pushing this function to the grid edge with medium-voltage UPS at the connection point. The key criteria are LCOS, safety, cycle life, supply chain resilience, and the ability to cycle economically without compromising the uptime requirements of the data center.   The Alsym Perspective Data centers and other large loads are turning to storage for more than backup. Interconnection bridging, AI load smoothing, peak shaving, grid services, and backup are each becoming standalone requirements, and each pushes batteries harder than the idle UPS duty cycle data centers once planned around. Across these use cases, the benchmark is converging: heavy sustained cycling, proximity to the load, minimal thermal overhead, high availability, and economics that hold up after cooling, augmentation, safety infrastructure, and asset-life degradation are counted. That is where LFP is exposed. Under aggressive cycling, degradation accelerates. Flammability pushes systems farther from the load and adds setbacks and siting complexity. Cooling consumes facility power that operators would rather allocate to compute. And many conventional systems still force trade-offs between power, energy, safety, and usable floor space. Storage built for this benchmark looks different. Alsym’s Na-Series is a non-flammable sodium-ion NFPP+ platform designed for designed for AI data centers with demanding stationary operation: frequent cycling, safer siting, lower thermal overhead, and lifetime total cost of ownership rather than upfront cost alone. Read more about how Alsym’s Na-Series platform fits the AI data center power stack, or explore the NFPP+ technology behind it.   --- ## Why are sodium-ion batteries less expensive than lithium-ion? URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/why-are-sodium-ion-batteries-less-expensive-than-lithium-ion/ Lithium-ion’s declining cost trajectory is often framed as a story of cells, scale, learning curves, and a 2021-22 lithium price spike that “probably won’t happen again.” But that story is both incomplete and far from over. Lithium prices still react quickly to supply interruptions, policy signals, and shifting market expectations. Further, “cost” is now being looked at more holistically; it’s not just the materials a chemistry depends on and the supply chains behind them, or the cost to assemble them – it’s also the systems the batteries go into and what costs can be incurred as result of the underlying battery technology. This is what makes sodium-ion’s cost proposition so different from lithium’s: it is built on abundant, low-cost, price-stable materials with a lower cost floor than lithium-ion, and due to its chemical properties offers a simpler system architecture that can reduce levelized cost of storage (LCOS). The advantage sodium-ion holds is structural — built into the materials, the cell architecture, and the supply chain — and it can widen as manufacturing scales, system-level costs further enter the calculation, and energy density gains are achieved. The sections below highlight the economic dimensions that ultimately position sodium-ion as a less expensive battery storage option than lithium-ion. 1. Abundant, Low-Cost, Price-Stable Raw Materials Materials account for roughly 65 to 70 percent of a battery cell’s total cost, so the input bill significantly influences the economics. Sodium-ion’s foundational feedstock is sodium carbonate (soda ash), which is more than 1,000 times more abundant in the Earth’s crust than lithium and trades around ~$300 USD per tonne versus the per commanded by battery-grade lithium carbonate. Just as important as the price is its stability. Lithium is geologically scarce and geographically concentrated, which is precisely why its spot price is prone to the boom-and-bust cycles from factors such as mine closures, export controls, or trade speculation. Sodium carbonate, by contrast, is a globally produced bulk commodity with historically low price volatility. A chemistry anchored to soda ash is insulated from the supply shocks that have repeatedly destabilized lithium-ion economics. Beyond sodium as a base, the choice of cathode can either mitigate or compound the effect. Some sodium-ion batteries still use relatively expensive nickel or vanadium. But others, like polyanionic sodium iron pyrophosphate (NFPP), use iron and phosphorus in the cathode active material—two of the most abundant and inexpensive industrial inputs available. NFPP contains no cobalt and no nickel, removing exposure to the critical-mineral heavy supply chains of nickel-based lithium-ion chemistries. Hard carbon currently represents a sizeable cost share in sodium-ion cells, but because it can be produced from abundant bio-derived precursors, its cost should decline as the supply chain matures, production scales, and processing yields improve. 2. Aluminum on Both Sides The cost advantage extends into the cell’s physical construction. Because lithium alloys with aluminum at low potential, lithium-ion cells must use a more expensive copper current collector on the anode. Sodium does not alloy with aluminum, so sodium-ion cells can use aluminum current collectors on both electrodes. The price difference is significant: global benchmark prices as of early July 2026 are roughly $13,400–13,500 per metric ton for copper and $3,050–3,100 per metric ton for aluminum. Eliminating copper foil from the anode removes one of the more costly components in the bill of materials. 3. Drop-In Manufacturing A new chemistry usually carries the enormous capital cost of purpose-built factories. does not. It is a so-called “drop-in” technology: cells can be manufactured on existing lithium-ion production lines with only minor modifications. This lets manufacturers leverage any underutilized capacity as well as decades of accumulated process maturity, tooling, and scale rather than rebuilding. This ultimately lowers both the capital intensity and the execution risk of bringing sodium-ion to large-scale volumes. 4. The System-Level Advantage Cell-level price is just one part of total cost of ownership. For systems used in applications with long service-life expectations like grid-scale storage, there are a few key capabilities that can highly impact a project’s Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS). Round-trip efficiency (RTE), operating temperature range, flammability risk, and operational flexibility each play an outsized role in determining the LCOS for the system This is where sodium-ion’s structural advantages really shine. When these capabilities are applied in a systems context, the result is a simpler asset which has a direct and significant impact on cost. Efficiency and throughput: Alsym’s Na-Series exceeds 95% system round-trip efficiency (RTE), about three percentage points higher than LFP. Higher RTE means less energy is lost as heat on every cycle. This means less heat dissipation that must be managed to avoid degrading the cell, and more energy throughput which translates to higher operational revenues. Wide operating temperature range: Sodium-ion systems designed for broader temperature tolerance (-40°C to 60°C versus LFP’s 0°C to 45°C) can reduce the need for complex thermal-management equipment. A wider operating window can support simpler cooling architectures, lower auxiliary power consumption, and reduced ongoing maintenance. Swapping out active for passive cooling translates to 90% lower OpEx and roughly 30% lower total cost of ownership versus LFP. Non-flammability: This is where Alsym Energy’s NFPP+ technology is distinct. As a non-flammable chemistry without the same thermal runaway pathway as conventional lithium-ion, NFPP+ has lower costs related to fire-suppression, thermal-containment, spacing, and setback requirements that are necessary for flammable chemistries. Thermal management and fire protection equipment in BESS are projected to account for more than 20% of total system costs by 2035; as those cost categories grow, avoiding them should widen the LCOS advantage. That can lower cost not only inside the container, but also at the project level through simpler site layout, reduced land-use constraints, easier installation, and potentially smoother permitting. Operational flexibility: Many LFP systems are operated within prescribed state-of-charge ranges and annual cycling limits to preserve warranty coverage. Sodium-ion systems change that dynamic by performing deeper discharge and higher cycling tolerance that give operators more usable flexibility to capitalize on revenue-driving or cost-saving use cases. 5. Future Energy Density Gains Future energy density gains could further improve sodium-ion economics. As cell chemistry and design continue to advance, sodium-ion batteries may be able to store more energy with the same basic materials platform, reducing the amount of material, hardware, and system infrastructure required per kilowatt-hour. That would build on the advantages already discussed rather than replace them. Sodium-ion’s cost case is rooted in structural factors today, but higher energy density over time could create an additional cost lever: more stored energy per cell, lower material intensity, reduced system footprint, and better economics at scale. The Alsym Perspective Battery energy storage is becoming a cornerstone for the generational transformation of our energy infrastructure, and with it evaluating battery cost deserves more nuance than just global cell cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Doing so ultimately misses the larger economic picture. As detailed in our white paper Assessing the Promise and Potential of Sodium-ion in 2026, the true economic case for sodium-ion is best demonstrated in a system context, where eliminating the engineering control add-ons required by volatile chemistries removes cost that never appears on a cell datasheet. These are the long-term value drivers, and in the next few years as sodium-ion cell costs decline 30-40% relative to LFP costs as predicted by Morgan Stanley Research, the $/kWh and system-level economics will have a substantial advantage over Li-ion. Learn more about the newest generation of polyanionic sodium-ion NFPP+ technology and how it delivers a low-LCOS foundation for global energy storage infrastructure. --- ## The Sodium-ion Era Has Arrived URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/the-sodium-ion-era-has-arrived/ For years, sodium-ion was talked about purely based on its potential: if the technology matures to where it’s competitive with lithium-ion, what would that mean for the battery industry? Today, that discussion has taken a much different tone. With partnership announcements among industry titans, coverage from Wall Street analysts, and new products launching in the market, the conversation around sodium-ion has shifted so much you would think we were talking about the early growth spurt of lithium-ion. Last month, Morgan Stanley Research published a 50-page note declaring the start of what it calls a “New Oil Age” for the energy industry because of sodium-ion batteries. The day after the note was released, the Financial Times published an article highlighting some of the major claims made by MS, including: “We predict sodium-ion batteries will take ~2 per cent market share by deployment in 2027, jumping to 20 per cent by 2030 and 37 per cent in 2035.” “Rather than a niche chemistry experiment, [sodium-ion] is becoming an $800bn capital formation wave by 2035, as the technology scales from pilot to industrial deployment” “The novel chemistry eliminates dependence on critical minerals such as lithium, copper, and graphite, so there’s a potential cost advantage of between 30 and 40 per cent over lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.” “Sodium-ion ‘could unlock ~50% more energy storage demand by enabling greater attachment of ESS to renewables while allowing projects to reach economic parity with LFP.’” The technical case for sodium-ion did not change overnight; cells have been shipping, cycling, and passing safety tests for some time. What changed is this: 1) the industry finally looked at the larger performance dynamics beyond simple cell-level energy density, and 2) there are now global companies putting big investment and production numbers behind sodium-ion. Those two shifts combined are pointing towards one thing: the sodium-ion era has arrived. What the research says Morgan Stanley’s research note is not incremental. The bank projects sodium-ion will hit 37% market share by 2035. It frames the buildout as an $800 billion capital formation wave over the next decade, a telltale sign sodium-ion is not a niche experiment but a full-stack infrastructure cycle touching utilities, grid operators, storage integrators, logistics, and equipment makers.   (source: Morgan Stanley Research via Financial Times) PV = Passenger Vehicles; CV = Commercial Vehicles; ESS = Energy Storage Systems   The largest slice of that investment formation, $360 billion or 45% of the total, flows into energy storage system (ESS) infrastructure. The basis for Morgan Stanley’s bullishness on sodium-ion for ESS is an expected 30–40% cost advantage over lithium iron phosphate (LFP) at the cell level, driven by a culmination of forces: Swapping expensive copper foil for cheaper aluminum in the current collector Independence from volatile lithium, cobalt, and graphite supply chains Rapidly declining production cost curves for sodium-ion cathodes, anodes, electrolytes, and current collectors Lower manufacturing overhead, as sodium-ion lines are largely compatible with existing LFP equipment and can ride the same learning curve. Notably, MS’s ~36% cost-reduction estimate excludes future energy density gains, which would lower cost per kWh further. What a 30%-40% Cost Evolution Means Morgan Stanley’s logic is that these lower cell costs bring down the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), making energy storage pencil out on projects that don’t clear the bar today. As that threshold falls, more projects move into economically viable territory — expanding the addressable market and potentially pushing global storage deployment well beyond current forecasts. Because sodium-ion cells cost 30–40% less, a project can attach far more storage before it reaches cost parity with an equivalent LFP system — pushing the storage-to-solar PV attachment ratio much higher, to roughly 2.0x versus 1.4x for LFP in the US. At equivalent project economics, that means materially more storage per megawatt of solar, which MS estimates could raise effective demand for stationary storage in GWh terms by ~50% in its base case. Sodium-ion’s cold-weather performance compounds the opportunity: retaining roughly 90% of capacity at –20°C (versus around half for LFP), it makes storage viable in northern geographies where AI infrastructure is scaling fastest — regions where LFP degradation and heavy thermal-management costs have held deployment back thus far. The proofpoints are commitments now, not projections Morgan Stanley puts forth a strong hypothesis, but the drumbeat of industry news on capital injections, product roadmaps, and signed supply agreements adds teeth to the projections the bank makes. Whether the hypothesis materializes rests on what the industry — from global majors to U.S. innovators — is actually doing: CATL. CATL’s chairman is already on record saying he believes sodium-ion will take up to half of LFP’s market share, and the company’s 2026 activity tracks that view. In April, CATL signed a three-year, 60 GWh supply agreement with HyperStrong, one of China’s largest ESS integrators. In June, it announced both a 3.07 MWh sodium-ion 20-foot container at SNEC 2026 and TENER Sodium, a fully modular grid-scale system rated at more than 30 MWh per unit, with first deliveries scheduled for September. The world’s largest battery maker has moved sodium-ion from roadmap to signed contracts and shipping products. BYD. BYD launched its grid-scale MC Cube-SIB sodium-ion storage product in 2024 using its proprietary blade battery form factor, and in early 2026 disclosed a third-generation cell rated for up to 10,000 charge-discharge cycles. Separately, BYD is investing roughly Rmb10 billion ($1.42B) into a 30 GWh plant aimed at ultra-affordable city cars. This is a major OEM treating sodium-ion as a portfolio strategy across both storage and vehicles. GM and Peak Energy. General Motors has made its position public, with Kurt Kelty, GM’s VP of Battery and Sustainability, emphasizing there is “a right battery for the right application,” and for stationary energy storage, that battery is sodium-ion. The company is backing that statement with an exclusive partnership with Peak Energy and a strategic investment from GM Ventures that will result in GM developing sodium-ion cells in its Michigan battery labs with commercialization targeted for 2028. A U.S. automaker with in-house cell development capability has publicly named sodium-ion as its chemistry for grid storage and put capital behind it. Alsym Energy. In April 2026, ESS Tech (NYSE: GWH) — a long-duration iron-flow storage maker — entered a strategic partnership to add 8.5 GWh of Alsym’s non-flammable Na-Series cells and modules to its portfolio. In May, California developer Juniper Energy committed to deploying 500 MWh of Alsym’s Na-Series storage across the state — including the Mojave Desert, where running without active cooling and qualifying for domestic-content tax credits is a direct economic edge. And in July, Alsym and ERITY signed a 9 GWh strategic relationship agreement to deploy non-flammable sodium-ion storage across mining operations, mobile AI data centers, and utility-scale projects in Australia, Africa, the Middle East, and beyond. With a cumulative 18 GWh in publicly announced customer commitments, Alsym represents the largest base of sodium-ion customer commitments outside of China. The burden of proof has flipped If you look at the announcements, a consistent message emerges: the benefits of sodium-ion are quickly establishing a new benchmark for stationary energy storage technology. The reasons cited across the industry are the same ones driving the Morgan Stanley thesis: a vastly more stable, non-FEOC supply chain; an all-around better safety profile; minimal cooling requirements slashing lifetime OpEx costs; a system life nearing 30 years; and faster charge and discharge without accelerated degradation. The Morgan Stanley note and growing list of industry headlines mark a meaningful shift that the burden of proof has changed hands. Sodium-ion is now the chemistry that incumbents have to respond to, particularly lithium-ion as it continues to show inherent limitations around safety, supply chain, and performance. In the face of a rapidly changing and growing storage market, the conversation has moved from whether sodium-ion belongs in the energy storage stack to how fast it scales and who builds it. Learn more how Alsym Energy and its Na-Series are helping to answer those questions. --- ## From Backup Role to Center Stage: The Growing Importance of BESS in Utility Scale Energy and Data Center Infrastructure URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/from-backup-role-to-center-stage-the-growing-importance-of-bess-in-utility-scale-energy-and-data-center-infrastructure/ Once primarily used for backup power and grid stabilization, BESS is now playing a more central role in data center power infrastructure design. Advancing Data Center Power Source Design Data center infrastructure is adapting to grid constraints by expanding options to strategically integrate BESS, fossil fuels, and renewable power sources. Within this, 4+ hour BESS plays a core role in supplying overall capacity and enabling seamless integration across diverse generation assets. While independent power producers (IPPs) and developers are tapping into BESS to support large, long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), data center developers are increasingly adopting BESS to bridge interconnection delays. Industry forecasts suggest that nearly one-third of U.S. data centers will not wait for grid interconnection timelines, with an estimated 25–33% of incremental data center power demand expected to be met behind-the-meter (BTM) by 2030. Although gas turbine and BESS pairings are emerging as one of the most widely adopted architectures, the opportunity extends beyond that model. Off-grid solar plus storage, geothermal, nuclear, and other distributed generation approaches are becoming increasingly viable pathways to accelerate deployment while reducing dependence on constrained transmission infrastructure. 25–33% of incremental data center power demand expected to be met behind-the-meter (BTM) by 2030 Data Center Infrastructure Dilemmas The energy needs of data centers can create conflicting priorities, such as meeting decarbonization targets while also meeting energy capacity needs as demand scales. Energy BESS is solving the most pressing data center infrastructure dilemmas. Co-locating medium-to-long duration energy storage (4–8 hours) next to data centers addresses systemic challenges related to grid capacity, decarbonization targets, and operational resilience. At the same time, BESS can dynamically capture excess midday solar or off-peak wind energy, powering and perfectly matching the 24/7 AI compute workloads with stored, clean energy. This method of combining BESS with wind and solar assets creates a firm “baseload-like” architecture and can open up renewable energy credits as an option for data center owners. Beyond providing power to the compute racks, a long-duration battery allows a facility to perform bulk load-shaving and energy arbitrage to achieve significant savings. Large-scale BESS arrays at data centers can be recharged for hours when electricity prices are lowest. Centers can then utilize the lower-cost energy during the highest-priced peak hours. Related: As BESS moves closer to the core of data center operations, lithium-ion fire risk and thermal management remain critical considerations for operators evaluating storage chemistry and site design. Better BESS In BESS’s critical energy integration role, not just any battery technology will do. Lithium-ion, the dominant battery technology of the past decade, is not always well aligned with the operational realities and constraints of modern data centers. From fire risk and thermal management complexity to community concerns around safety, next-generation AI infrastructure requires energy storage solutions designed to reduce risk while supporting increasingly dynamic power demands. Sodium-ion battery technology offers a compelling alternative: delivering significantly lower fire risk, lower costs, a broader operational temperature range, and more reliable power response. More specifically, the Na-Series batteries make the case for sodium-ion even more compelling. With 95% round trip efficiency (RTE) and cell level RTE that can exceed 97% in 4+ hour systems, and no HVAC required for cooling, operational costs are significantly lower. Its high cycle life means more than 85% of battery health remains after 20 years. No thermal runaway means easier community acceptance and simplified permitting. Alsym batteries are both a power and energy battery, offering infinite topologies from one chemistry and providing flexibility to fit any data center architecture. Alsym Na-Series batteries at a data center BESS installation NFPP+ Alsym Energy’s Na-Series sodium-ion battery line, powered by its proprietary NFPP+ chemistry, was purpose-built for these conditions and is setting a new benchmark for AI data centers. Designed for high-utilization environments, heavy cycling, and long operating life, Na-Series handles millisecond-scale transients and large-scale power swings that characterize AI workloads while supporting more resilient power architectures. NFPP+ also enables seamless integration with gas turbines, renewable generation, and emerging hybrid power architectures, helping operators bridge grid constraints and build more flexible energy strategies. Its rugged design supports emerging 800VDC architecture without requiring the active cooling systems commonly associated with LFP batteries. Together, these capabilities position Na-Series to help power a faster, safer, more affordable, and more scalable energy future. Learn more about the future of sodium-ion at data centers — including how batteries are reshaping AI data center energy infrastructure. --- ## How are AI datacenters different from traditional data centers? URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/how-are-ai-datacenters-different-from-traditional-data-centers/ – By Spencer Nervig, Battery Solutions Architect at Alsym Energy Digital infrastructure is moving rapidly from legacy server architectures to specialized compute facilities optimized for high-performance AI workloads. Traditional data centers act as the physical backbone for our digital world—housing the core IT infrastructure, hardware, and repositories required to store and manage application data. AI factories, by contrast, are specialized engines designed to turn that raw data into intelligent, revenue-generating digital outputs. Rather than being a uniform architecture like the data centers of the past few decades, an AI data center represents a highly distinct engineering ecosystem defined by 10x compute density, complex thermal dynamics, and intensive power requirements. To satisfy these evolving operational and safety demands, AI firms need to redesign legacy data center configurations to accommodate the intense mechanical and electrical realities of accelerated computing in the AI era. High-Voltage Architecture: The Shift to 800VDC Power Distribution Traditional data centers are typically built to distribute power through standard alternating current (AC) lines or low-voltage direct current (DC) systems, usually feeding server racks at 48V or 54V configurations. While these layouts are highly effective for general-purpose CPU workloads operating at 5 to 15 kW per rack, they hit a wall when faced with high-density AI hardware. Modern AI GPU clusters are pushing rack densities past 50 kW, 100 kW, and toward megawatt-class thresholds. Traditional low-voltage designs introduce resistive power losses and choke valuable rack space that would otherwise hold revenue-generating processors. Re-configuring low-voltage distribution would require an unsustainable and costly volume of copper cabling and massive connectors to handle the resulting electrical current. Since there are only two options to achieve higher power delivery – increasing voltage or increasing current, that leaves voltage as the way forward for high-density AI data centers. To overcome these constraints, next-generation AI factories are transitioning to an 800VDC power distribution architecture, a strategy that streamlines the power train by converting medium-voltage grid power directly to high-voltage DC at the data room, slashing in-rack copper requirements, and eliminating redundant conversion steps that have a negative impact when operators are optimizing for tokens per watt. Workload Volatility: GPU Transients and Power Spikes Unlike traditional data centers that maintain a relatively flat, highly predictable power consumption baseline, AI clusters operate in a continuous state of intense volatility. The parallel processing required to train large language models means that thousands of GPUs must execute massive matrix operations synchronously. This operational pattern causes the electrical demand of a single server row to swing from an idle state to full utilization and back again in a matter of milliseconds. These rapid transitions trigger severe high-frequency power spikes and microsecond-level GPU transients. Insights from Vertiv’s data center power architecture analysis highlight that these erratic load fluctuations create significant electrical noise, stress delicate silicon components, and make it exceptionally difficult for legacy power management systems to maintain voltage stability across the data hall without advanced rack-level mitigation. Facility-Level Load Swings and Grid Interaction When these localized power spikes and GPU transients are aggregated across an entire gigawatt-scale facility, they manifest as massive, unpredictable facility-level load swings. A data center’s total power draw can abruptly ramp up or down by hundreds of megawatts within seconds as training jobs launch, idle, or execute checkpointing operations. This unprecedented volatility transforms the data center from a passive, stable consumer of electricity into an active, highly dynamic grid asset. These abrupt facility-level swings pose a direct threat to the stability of local utility grids, creating localized voltage sags and straining transformer infrastructure, which fundamentally alters how energy must be planned, delivered, managed, and automated across the AI value chain. The Infrastructure Implications for Battery Selection These intersecting challenges—including 10x rack-level densities, high-voltage 800VDC architectures, continuous power spikes, and massive facility-level load swings—fundamentally rewrite the rules when it comes to selecting battery storage solutions to serve AI datacenters. In this high-stress environment, an energy storage system can no longer perform just backup power or peak shaving; instead, it must serve as an active, high-throughput control asset capable of bidirectionally absorbing rapid power spikes and injecting instant energy to smooth out volatile load swings. Because lithium-ion systems present thermal runaway risks, especially under the high thermal stress of dense computing environments, next-generation AI infrastructure demands a new approach for inherently safe, long-lasting storage architecture. To bridge this critical infrastructure gap, Alsym Energy is developing a high-performance, non-flammable polyanionic battery solution engineered to manage grid-scale power and volatile data center workloads. Alsym’s NFPP+ technology eliminates the pathways that lead to thermal runaway, offers exceptional cycle life and operates in a significantly wider temperature range, making it an asset rather than a liability in current and future AI datacenter use cases. Learn more about how Na-Series non-flammable platform delivers a reliable, high-ROI foundation for the global intelligence economy. --- ## Enter the New Era of Battery-Driven Data Centers URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/enter-the-new-era-of-battery-driven-data-centers/ Artificial intelligence is transforming more than how microchips and processors are used inside a data center. It is also creating major shifts on the power delivery infrastructure in and around data centers. To cope with larger compute loads, AI data centers are growing larger, installing processing unit racks over 5× more powerful than traditional CPU racks, with denser power demand, and far more dynamic power demand profiles. According to BloombergNEF, AI-driven growth is expected to transform the role of storage and flexible power systems in supporting new data center capacity and grid integration. In short, the next generation of data centers will not simply consume more electricity, they will consume it in more challenging ways. One glance at the following graphs clearly shows how AI workloads are creating a new class of energy delivery challenges – and at a time when energy demand has never been higher. Traditional Load Growth vs. AI Workload Variability TimePower demandTraditional linear loadAI workload variabilitySteady growthRapid spikesHigh peaksSharp drops AI training and inference workloads create rapid fluctuations in power demand that traditional architectures were not designed to manage. Historically, power systems inside data centers were optimized around uptime, but AI introduces sharper load swings and significantly higher power densities. This poses a challenge for power quality control – which some data center operators are using energy storage to smooth. AI Power Demand Follows Two Patterns Training PhaseInference PhaseHIGH POWER SPIKE(Baseline defined by peak)CONSTANT POWER DEMAND(Predictable long-term load)vs. While time spent by AI tools in the training phase is shorter than the inference phase as models mature, it will still affect power demand spikes. Add to this the increased energy needed to run AI datacenters even after the training phase – i.e. inference phase load – and it’s a totally new territory for power. If that’s not enough of a challenge for data center owners and developers to tackle, they also have to bridge the “chasm” between when a data center can be physically completed – estimated at within 3 years – and time to interconnection – estimated at 5 to 7 years. The Chasm 34ConstructionPotential Time to InterconnectionYears To meet the unstoppable demand for AI, the industry is innovating around this chasm. In fact, just over one-third of data centers in 2030 are expected to have completely onsite generation, though the focus in the near term remains on temporary bridge-to-grid power (Bloom Energy, 2026). They’re even branching out with solar + storage off-site power purchase agreements. But most developers are not pursuing permanent off-grid operation; they are treating on-site generation as a transitional “bridge-to-grid” strategy, i.e. bringing capacity online behind the meter to accelerate deployment while locating facilities near substations that enable future grid connection. Even among projects evaluating off-grid power supply, most still ultimately require a path to the grid, a decision riding on the lower long-term cost of grid power and the reliability and stability services the grid provides. Beyond interaction with the grid, power delivery architecture within the data center itself is changing. Industry roadmaps increasingly point toward 800 VDC distribution architectures that move more power more directly to the increased compute loads generated by higher-power GPUs. While 800 might seem like an arbitrary number, it’s actually the voltage where current drops low enough to reduce copper loss and thermal burden. From 415 VAC Distribution to 800 VDC Power Delivery ArchitectureEnlarge Data Center Roadmap: Architecting AI Infrastructure for Next-Gen AI FactoriesComparison of 2025 415 VAC distribution versus 2027 800 VDC delivery for AI data centers20252027415 VAC Distribution800 VDC DistributionUtilityOn-Prem Gen(Optional)GMedium VoltageNetwork13.8–35k VACTransformerGDiesel GenMain Switchboard480 VACAC UPS480 VACPower Distribution Unit415 VACAC Dist415 VACEnergy Storage(Optional)3–4 MW415 VACPSU54VDCCompute RackUtilityOn-Prem GenGBattery EnergyStorage SystemMedium VoltageNetwork13.8–35k VACMedium Voltage Rectifieror Solid-State Transformer800 VDCAC Dist800 VDCEnergy StorageUp to 8 MW800VDCCompute Rack Source: NVIDIA 800 VDC Architecture for AI Data Centers In this environment, energy storage is no longer optional — batteries are becoming a foundational layer of AI data center design. Their integration can help to stabilize operations, improve speed-to-power, support resilience, and manage interaction with the grid. Importantly, batteries are no longer tied only to renewable energy systems – in fact, integration with gas turbines or fuel cells is emerging as a method for onsite generation. BloombergNEF has identified 4.9GW of planned storage deployment tied to data center growth is expected to be co-located with fossil generation assets, underscoring that storage has become a flexible infrastructure layer regardless of generation source. A forward-looking AI data center design does not choose between two battery systems – it will deploy a hybridized energy architecture based on myriad strategies. A high C-rate asset may sit close to the power distribution bus to stabilize micro-transients generated by compute infrastructure, while a utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) manages grid integration, economics, backup duration, and multi-hour resilience. Different batteries solve different problems—and the architecture works because these systems operate together. The Data Center Battery Toolkit One chemistry, infinite topologies: these six building blocks can be mixed, matched, and overlapped to fit any data center architecture. 123456 Click a numbered pin to open a use case below. 11. Utility-Scale Energy — 4+ Hour BESS for Capacity and Renewable Integration AI data centers increasingly rely on integration of BESS with a mix of on-site fossil-fuel-based and renewable energy generation to provide dependable baseload power, while using renewable energy to support carbon reduction goals. This architecture is being adopted both to bridge interconnection delays by enabling facilities to secure power before grid access is available and, more commonly, by independent power producers (IPPs) and developers using BESS-enabled utility-scale projects to support large, long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with data center operators. Leveraged by AI data centers and energy storage developers alike. Accelerate grid interconnection. Added capacity when utility lines are curtailed. Support renewable integration. Reduce reliance on conventional backup generation. Read the utility BESS infrastructure guide 22. Utility-Scale Power — High C-Rate (2C) Load Smoothing Power Battery A load-smoothing battery can address violently spiking data center power demand that can destabilize voltage and cause frequency deviations on the power lines. As AI workloads create large, facility-level power swings from synchronized GPU clusters shifting between training, idle, and inference states, utility-scale batteries are increasingly needed to dynamically absorb and smooth these MW-scale fluctuations—reducing reliance on inefficient “dummy loads” used to maintain stable operating conditions for on-site generation assets. High C-Rate (2C) load smoothing power battery. Functions as an industrial-sized “shock absorber” upstream of the white space. Read the data center power gap guide 33. Off-Grid Integration of Gas Turbines + BESS Data centers often demand more power than their local grid can provide. An outdoor battery yard integrated with gas turbines can handle multi-hour load shifting, absorb generation fluctuation and make black-starts possible. As a growing share of new AI data centers pursue behind-the-meter and off-grid energy strategies to avoid interconnection delays, combining BESS with on-site generation allows operators to maintain reliable power while optimizing generation assets—keeping gas turbines operating at efficient steady-state loads while batteries manage rapid load changes. Grid Forming BESS for Gas Turbine Integration. Creates flexibility in microgrid design. 44. DC Distribution — Next Generation 800 VDC Next-gen 800VDC architecture moves larger amounts of power more directly to the increased compute loads generated by GPUs. As AI workloads drive rack power densities beyond the practical limits of conventional AC distribution, 800 VDC architectures are emerging as the preferred approach to deliver stable, efficient, and scalable power to next-generation compute environments. Battery systems integrated directly to the DC bus for immediate active power injection. Actively stabilize grid voltage and frequency during massive utility disturbances. 55. GPU-Level BESS Data centers are vulnerable to power delivery interruptions and transient voltage fluctuations – rack level batteries can suppress their negative influence on the IT rack. As AI workloads create increasingly abrupt, localized power swings at the GPU and rack level, GPU-level BESS acts as a first line of defense to absorb these fast transients before they propagate into facility-wide power disturbances or grid-level instability that could impact broader operations. GPU level DC battery & decentralized UPS. Ensures immediate, uninterrupted power is delivered to the rack. 66. Load-Smoothing UPS — Centralized AI Backup Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) conduct rapid, real-time compensation during grid sags and faults, keeping IT loads operational. Load-smoothing UPS systems are increasingly deployed to absorb rapid load fluctuations, provide transition power during outages, and act as a real-time electrical buffer that protects operations while helping large-scale AI facilities remain within utility interconnection and power quality limits. Centralized AI backup. If primary grid is lost, batteries act as a ride-through power. These emerging cases have major implications for the infrastructure that supports AI data centers – the type of battery used does too. As batteries move closer to the core of data center operations, chemistry selection and battery design become increasingly important. Each use case requires a unique combination selected specifically for the specifications and performance requirements – it’s not the case that lithium-ion chemistry can be applied in a blanketed fashion across all applications. Lithium-ion remains the dominant commercial technology, but concerns around thermal management, fire risk, and cooling requirements are driving interest in alternatives. Sodium-ion technologies are emerging as one pathway for reducing thermal management burden while improving lifecycle durability in data center environments. The energy architecture for AI data centers is becoming layered, distributed, and storage-centric. The question is no longer whether batteries belong in data centers—it is which battery chemistries and architectures fit each use case. Additional Sources:Bloom Energy, 2026 Data Center Power Report (January 2026); BloombergNEF, Data Centers’ Energy Storage Ramp Up: AI Drives New Uses (April 2026); Schneider Electric, White Paper 213 × --- ## The Energy Storage Explosion: A Conversation with SEIA’s Emily Burlinghaus URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/the-energy-storage-explosion-a-conversation-with-seias-emily-burlinghaus/ Shattering the 2030 Outlook Jonathan: Emily, the Q2 SEIA report showed a staggering 57.6 GWh of new energy storage installed in 2025 alone, and a record breaking 9.7 GWh installed in Q1 2026. Looking back five years, did SEIA anticipate this level of acceleration, or has the market outpaced even your most optimistic projections? Emily: The projection in our Q1 2026 Energy Storage Market Outlook is over 610 GWh by 2030, which far exceeds our expectations from a couple of years ago. Despite ongoing policy uncertainty, tariff fluctuations, and changes in federal funding and incentives, a combination of supply- and demand-side factors have proven the necessity for continued deployment of energy storage. In many ways, SEIA anticipated the hugely important role of energy storage in meeting demand and maintaining grid stability. Last January, SEIA published its Vision for Energy Storage that provided a roadmap for the United States to reach 700 GWh of energy storage by 2030. We remain optimistic about the rapid growth in both the manufacturing and deployment of energy storage over the next four years. Jonathan:  We see a forecast of 610 GWh by 2030—up from even the Q1 2026 projection of 601 GWh. In your view, what is the single biggest ‘bottleneck’ that could prevent us from hitting that 610 GWh milestone? Emily: There are a number of market and policy factors – including restrictive federal, state, and local policies – that could impact the timeline for reaching 610 GWh. SEIA is tracking 457 solar and storage projects with permits pending that could be vulnerable to politically motivated delays. Many of these changes are ideologically-driven or rooted in misinformation and create costly and burdensome requirements for projects that support energy reliability, alleviate grid congestion, and reduce ratepayer costs. Securing the Supply Chain Jonathan: The infographic highlights that the U.S. is now the 2nd largest battery manufacturer in the world, with 131 GWh of cell capacity currently under construction. At Alsym, we think a lot about supply chain resilience. As we scale, how concerned is SEIA about our continued reliance on specific raw materials, and do you see the industry diversifying its chemistry mix to mitigate these risks? Emily: From a supply chain security perspective, it is important to limit single source risk. This risk mitigation should be undertaken at both the company- and industry-wide levels. Currently, the majority of batteries deployed on the grid in the United States are lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry, with the cathodes being LFP and the anodes being graphite. In recent years, we’ve seen a trend of LFP battery cell manufacturers seeking to diversify and secure their supply chains for these materials by entering direct sourcing agreements with lithium companies, investing in domestic upstream producers, and adjusting procurement strategies to source outside a concentrated geographical area. We’ve also seen a lot of government –efforts aimed at addressing bottlenecks in the mining and processing of raw and precursor materials for battery production. Expanding the menu of battery technologies is integral not only for serving new demand-side applications but also limiting supply chain risks that come with overdependence on one type of technology and set of inputs. Jonathan: With 23 states now having storage factories online or under construction, we’re seeing a ‘Battery Belt’ emerge. How much of this domestic manufacturing boom do you attribute to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) versus organic market demand and how does the OBBB impact this? Emily: A combination of policy and market factors has contributed to the growth of domestic battery manufacturing. On a global scale, it is worth noting that battery energy storage costs have fallen by more than 90 percent between 2010 and 2024,[1] and between 2024 and 2025 alone, prices for stationary battery packs declined approximately 45 percent to $70/kWh.[2] This global drop in prices for lithium-ion batteries—driven by technological improvements, economies of scale, and increased competition—has of course benefitted the economics of storage deployment and created a major demand-side signal that also supports manufacturing investment. And good policy is important. But the main driver of storage growth has been the increased need for affordable, reliable, quick-to-deploy power, which is exactly what storage provides. The Shift to Longer Duration Storage Jonathan: The data shows the average battery duration in 2025 is 3 hours. As we move toward a grid with higher renewable penetration, does SEIA see a tipping point where 3 or 4 hours is no longer enough? What role do you see for Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) in the 2030 outlook? Emily: As regions experience higher renewable penetration, BESS with the ability to discharge beyond 3-4 hours will become increasingly important to bridge the gap between periods of renewable generation and reduce the need for curtailment if renewables generate more than is needed for the grid at any given time. Increased storage deployment generally is also making peaks flatter and longer in many markets, meaning that longer duration batteries will be required to cover those periods. Certain LDES solutions are also uniquely suited for deep cycling and long discharge periods that are needed to manage sharp fluctuations in load from AI learning. A number of states are already recognizing the benefits of LDES and setting procurement targets for utilities. Most recently, Virginia signed a law in April that sets a target of 4.5 GW of LDES for the state by 2045. Jonathan: 62% of the utility-scale storage capacity installed in Q1 2026 is ‘Standalone.’ This is a significant shift from the days when storage was almost always ‘Solar + Storage.’ What is driving the business case for standalone storage right now? Emily: While collocated solar + storage remains the quickest and most cost-effective way to add capacity to the grid, the deployment of standalone storage projects has grown in recent years because of projects’ ability to mitigate grid congestion, defer transmission upgrades, and capture revenue streams in multiple power markets. Depending on the region, energy storage assets can also capture multiple revenue streams, including those for fast frequency regulation, operating reserves, black start, and energy arbitrage. Geopolitics of Storage? Jonathan: One of the most striking stats in this report is that ‘Red States’ account for 66% of energy storage capacity. This seems to signal that storage has moved past being a ‘green’ initiative to a fundamental ‘grid reliability and economic’ initiative. How does this geographic diversity change the way SEIA advocates for storage in Washington? Emily: Energy storage addresses key issues that lawmakers in Washington and state capitols across the country are most concerned about: energy affordability, grid security and reliability, and economic growth. We work with lawmakers, regulators and administrators of all political stripes to advance the industry’s interests and make sure that they understand that storage is not a partisan energy source. Jonathan: California and Texas are obviously leading the pack, but we’re seeing states like Oklahoma and Idaho break into the Top 10. Which ‘dark horse’ state do you think will surprise people in the 2026 report? Emily: I think people will be surprised to see Idaho highlighted as one of the leading states on the map. It ranks ninth in the country in energy storage deployment, with 1.7 GWh operational. And the growing solar and storage deployment in the state hasn’t been driven by legislation or a renewable portfolio standard but rather market dynamics. The Idaho Public Utilities Commission requires that utilities present integrated resource plans (IRPs) every two years to deploy the least-cost, least-risk energy assets and maintain grid reliability and ratepayer affordability. This requirement has resulted in significant utility investment in solar and storage, with Idaho Power—the state’s largest utility—setting a goal to reach 100% clean energy by 2045. In addition to these utility goals, Idaho’s existing electricity mix—the majority of which is provided by hydropower resources—and low electricity prices have attracted hyperscalers seeking to scale energy-intensive data centers while maintaining clean energy goals. As renewable penetration expands across all market segments in Idaho, BESS is a practical investment to mitigate risk and reduce costs. Safety and the Rise of Residential Virtual Power Plants Jonathan: Residential storage grew by 51% in 2025. As batteries move closer to where people sleep and live, safety becomes a paramount concern for consumers. How is the industry addressing the need for non-flammable solutions to maintain this level of consumer trust? Emily: Safety codes – including NFPA 855 (Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems) and UL 9540 (Standard for Energy storage Systems and Equipment) – have evolved over the past decade to help installers and manufacturers more effectively mitigate fire risk, and they have proven effective. Both standards have been updated since their initial publication to apply a whole-of-system approach to safety relevant to both utility-scale and residential storage, and non-compliance results in utility prohibitions on grid connection. SEIA works with both public and private sector stakeholders to ensure that codes and standards pertinent to the design, manufacturing, and installation of batteries evolve with these innovations. Jonathan: With residential deployment expected to increase 120% by 2030, do you see Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) becoming a standard part of the American household’s relationship with their utility? Emily: We’re seeing more and more states turn to VPPs to strengthen grid reliability and lower electricity costs for ratepayers. Two major markets—California and Texas—have been operating VPP programs for the past several years, and numerous other states have recently moved VPP programs forward. Given considerations around affordability and load reduction, I expect we’ll see a lot of VPP growth across the country in coming years, especially as states seek to mitigate strain on the grid without pursuing costly transmission upgrades or dirty peaker plants. The “Guru” Perspective Jonathan: If you could clear one regulatory or interconnection hurdle today with the wave of a magic wand to help the industry reach that 2030 goal faster, which one would it be? Emily: Because batteries are relatively new grid assets compared to other forms of generation, they are not compensated for all the services they provide the grid. While some markets allow for revenue stacking, this is not standard practice, and many market structures undervalue BESS or have not implemented reforms to open wholesale markets to aggregated DERs. If energy storage assets were compensated for all the services they provide—not just energy arbitrage but also the various ancillary services, flexible ramping, and other reliability benefits—across all market segments (residential, community, and utility-scale), the industry could overcome many of the barriers to reaching ambitious 2030 goals. Jonathan: Emily, for those looking at the 78,000+ jobs created in this sector, what is your message to the next generation of engineers and marketers looking to join the energy storage revolution? Emily: The energy storage industry is full of opportunities for professionals with expertise on everything from engineering and materials science to policy, legal, and marketing. We’re at a particularly interesting time for the U.S. battery industry because of the strong policy and market drivers incentivizing onshoring. We’ve seen significant growth not only in domestic cell and pack manufacturing, but also in the upstream (mining and refining) and midstream space, as well as the sectors that support these operations along the supply chain. As the industry continues to grow, there will be a need for more talented professionals who can design and operate manufacturing equipment, improve the design and efficiency of battery cells, innovate with new chemistries and types of energy storage, and work with policy and regulatory bodies to support storage manufacturing and deployment.   [1] https://www.irena.org/News/articles/2025/Aug/Battery-energy-storage-systems-key-to-renewable-power-supply-demand-gaps [2] https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-transport/lithium-ion-battery-pack-prices-fall-to-108-per-kilowatt-hour-despite-rising-metal-prices-bloombergnef/ --- ## It’s Time for American Battery Leadership URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/its-time-for-american-battery-leadership/ – By Graeme Grant, Alsym Energy Chief Operating Officer (COO)   There are moments when a country has to decide whether it will inherit the future from someone else or build it for itself. This is one of those moments. In recent years, it has become clearer that batteries are not just energy products. They are enabling infrastructure for energy security, grid resilience, artificial intelligence, defense readiness, advanced manufacturing, and global competitiveness. But the hard truth is that too much of the battery future has been built on supply chains the United States does not control. Today’s energy storage battery economy is underpinned by lithium iron phosphate (or “LFP”) batteries. LFP’s legacy is changing what the market thought was possible with energy storage. Not long ago, the idea that batteries could support bulk power, firm renewable generation, back up critical infrastructure, and become a core tool for grid-scale energy storage sounded ambitious. LFP changed that conversation by showing the market that low-cost batteries could move from the edge of the grid to the center of it. Today, however, LFP is hitting its limits. Its improvement curve is flattening. Its systems require complex thermal management, monitoring, maintenance, augmentation, and operational complexity. Despite that, large-scale battery fire incidents are still happening and there is a growing trend of communities blocking deployments. Most importantly, its supply chain is overwhelmingly concentrated in China. More than 90% of battery energy storage systems use LFP batteries. LFP batteries are almost exclusively supplied from China. And it is storage batteries that the US urgently needs to lower energy costs, enable our AI aspirations, and to power our future prosperity. This means, therefore, that the batteries America needs for our future come from a country with whom we have a complex and unstable relationship. That is not energy independence nor leadership. That is not a durable foundation for the AI economy, the modern grid, or national security. It is time to evolve. That brings in sodium-ion: which offers an opportunity to leapfrog LFP and put the fate of American energy infrastructure back in the hands of America. Sodium-ion is unique because it looks like a lithium-ion battery but is made of a material roughly one thousand times more abundant in the Earth’s crust than lithium. Sodium carbonate, or soda ash, is dramatically less expensive to process than lithium carbonate and widely available in the United States, with Wyoming holding 92% of the world’s readily minable natural soda ash reserves. That gives America something it has not had in the LFP era: a credible path to a domestic, non-Foreign Entity of Concern battery supply chain from materials to deployment. For stationary storage, sodium-ion can offer strong cycling performance, full depth of discharge, high round-trip efficiency, and reduced cooling requirements. At the system level, those advantages matter. The future of energy storage will not be won on cell cost alone. It will be won on total cost of ownership for infrastructure: maintenance, augmentation, cooling, permitting, safety, insurance, logistics, and lifecycle performance. The economics of sodium-ion batteries in energy systems have demonstrated a clear edge over LFP. Sodium-ion is commercializing now. American companies have already announced more than 15 GWh of planned sodium-ion storage offtakes. Global deployments are moving forward and the benefits, particularly at the system-level, are getting attention. The recent GM–Peak Energy announcement marks an important turning point. General Motors is developing next-generation sodium-ion cells purpose-built for grid-scale storage with Peak Energy. GM’s framing is exactly right: the future is not one battery chemistry for every use case. The future is the right battery for the right application. And sodium-ion is the right choice for energy storage. So it’s not a question of whether sodium-ion is the answer. It is about whether America will build the next battery ecosystem here or once again watch as innovation is developed here and scaled elsewhere. It is about whether the United States will compete from a position of strength or depend on imported systems for the infrastructure powering AI, advanced manufacturing, military readiness, and grid resilience. For other global economies such as India and Europe, the same sodium-ion opportunity exists to gain energy sovereignty and move away from Chinese reliance for batteries. The timing could not be more urgent. AI data centers are accelerating power needs. Grid modernization is no longer optional. Extreme weather is increasing the value of resilience. Manufacturers need reliable power to expand here at home. Communities are asking harder questions about safety, permitting, fire risk, and long-term system performance. That is why I’m excited to announce the launch of the American Battery Leadership Coalition, a joint initiative of America’s leading sodium-ion battery companies to move the needle forward. The ABLC exists because America still has a rare opportunity to lead before the sodium-ion market fully matures. The coalition brings together the suppliers, manufacturers, developers, and policy leaders needed to build a competitive sodium-ion ecosystem in the United States. Its purpose is to strengthen American battery leadership at the exact moment when leadership is still up for grabs. That will require action. We need demonstration projects that validate sodium-ion in the applications that matter. We need support for pilot facilities and pre-commercial manufacturing, not just large factories after the hardest scaling work has already been done. We need financing tools that help first-of-a-kind projects become bankable, procurement pathways that create early demand, and policy that supports the full value chain from active materials and hard carbon anodes to cells, modules, packs, and complete energy storage systems. The United States does not lack innovators. It does not lack entrepreneurs. It does not lack customers, capital, talent, or demand. Companies such as Alsym are proving that America can accelerate the innovation curve itself, using cutting edge tools like physics-informed AI to compress battery development timelines and move safer, lower-cost chemistries toward commercialization faster. What we need now is alignment. America relinquished too much of the lithium-ion industrial buildout. We cannot afford to do the same with sodium-ion. The technology is ready. The market is moving. The need is urgent. And the window is open. It’s time for America Battery Leadership for sodium-ion.   Learn more about the ABLC: https://www.alsym.com/ Read the press release. --- ## Understanding Lithium-ion Price Volatility URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/understanding-lithium-ion-price-volatility/ “Few commodities cycle like lithium does.” From staggering highs to abrupt plunges, and now renewed upward pressure, the market for lithium carbonate – the lithium chemical used in lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries – has been anything but predictable. These swings have left investors, manufacturers, developers, and policymakers trying to understand whether the market is simply maturing—or whether volatility is becoming a permanent feature of the battery economy. The answer is likely both. It is fair to argue that the lithium market today is more mature than it was during the 2021–2022 price shock following the invasion of Ukraine which sent fuel prices soaring. Supply has expanded, buyers are more sophisticated, and the industry has learned hard lessons about overreliance on short-term market signals. But market maturity does not automatically mean price stability. As batteries become central to electric vehicles, grid storage, data centers, and industrial electrification, lithium-ion supply chains are becoming more strategically important—and therefore more exposed to geopolitical, policy, and trade-driven disruption. The Anatomy of Lithium-ion Volatility The 2022 lithium price shock was extraordinary, but it was not random. Battery demand surged as elevated gas prices caused consumers to turn to EVs, automakers rushed to secure materials, and market participants became increasingly concerned about access to lithium, nickel, graphite, and cobalt. Prices rose quickly as buyers competed for limited near-term supply. The market then responded the way commodity markets often do: capital rushed in, supply expanded, inventories built, and prices collapsed. By late 2024 and 2025, the industry was dealing with the opposite problem—oversupply, project delays, weak margins, and uncertainty about which producers could survive a lower-price environment. This is where some observers argue that the market has learned its lesson. They suggest the 2022 shock is unlikely to repeat, and that recent price increases are signs of a more balanced, more mature lithium market. That view may be partially right—but it is incomplete. Lithium-ion batteries are not just another commodity market. They sit at the intersection of industrial policy, global trade, national security, energy security, and climate strategy. That means prices are not shaped by supply and demand alone. They are shaped by speculation, tariffs, export controls, permitting delays, domestic-content rules, geopolitical conflict, and the ability of dominant market players to expand or restrict supply at strategic moments. A more mature lithium market may reduce some forms of volatility, but it does not eliminate the deeper structural risks. If anything, the strategic importance of batteries increases the likelihood that governments and large market actors will continue to intervene in ways that make long-term cost planning difficult. Why the “This Won’t Happen Again” Argument Misses the Point The question is not whether lithium carbonate will repeat the exact 2022 price spike. It may not. The better question is whether lithium-ion batteries will remain exposed to unpredictable cost shocks. On that point, the answer is almost certainly yes. There are several reasons. First, lithium supply remains cyclical. When prices fall too far, projects are delayed, mines are idled, and investment slows. When prices rise again, buyers rush back in, financing reopens, and speculation returns. This boom-bust dynamic is not a sign of a broken market; it is how many commodity markets behave. Second, the supply chain remains geographically concentrated. Even when raw lithium production diversifies, processing, refining, graphite supply, cell manufacturing, and component manufacturing remain heavily dependent on China. That concentration creates exposure to policy shifts, export controls, sanctions, tariffs, and trade disputes. Third, battery demand is no longer driven by one end market. EVs, stationary storage, grid infrastructure, consumer electronics, industrial electrification, and AI-driven data center growth are all competing for battery supply. When multiple sectors depend on the same chemistry family, shocks in one market can ripple across the entire supply chain. Fourth, policy risk is increasing. Tariffs on lithium-ion batteries and graphite, Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) rules, domestic-content requirements, and critical-mineral security policies all affect the true landed cost of batteries. These measures may support domestic manufacturing over time, but in the near term they can add cost, complexity, and uncertainty. This is why the lithium-ion market can become more mature and still remain volatile. Maturity does not remove geopolitical risk. It does not remove trade risk. It does not remove speculation. And it does not remove the challenge of building a battery supply chain around materials that remain strategically contested. The $40/kg Tipping Point Global battery research firms point to $40/kg for when lithium carbonate reaches an important economic threshold. When lithium carbonate moves toward or beyond that level, lithium-ion batteries achieve near-cost parity with sodium-ion batteries. At $40/kg, LFP’s lowest-cost argument starts to evaporate and it can be more evenly evaluated across performance and economic attributes to sodium. Beyond Wh/L and $/kWh, those attributes at least for grid-scale storage include system-level round-trip efficiency, operating temperature range, cycle life, lifetime energy throughput, and more. With grid storage, compared to other segments, the winning technology is the one that delivers the best lifetime economics across safety, thermal management, augmentation, degradation, usable capacity, maintenance, supply security, and installation constraints. There are also many hidden costs of LFP that would get more scrutiny with cost parity. For example, a project may secure an LFP system at an attractive price today, but stationary storage assets are not always one-time purchases in practice. Over the life of a project, systems may require augmentation, replacement modules, or other capacity-maintenance measures to preserve contracted performance as batteries degrade. That matters because future augmentation does not necessarily happen under today’s pricing conditions. A developer may benefit from a low-cost LFP procurement cycle at the beginning of a project, only to face a very different cost environment several years later when augmentation is required. If lithium carbonate, graphite, cell, tariff, or logistics costs have moved materially by then, the lifetime economics of the system can look very different from the initial quote. This is another reason sodium-ion should not be evaluated only on upfront cell cost. For stationary storage, the more relevant question is whether the chemistry can deliver predictable cost, safety, and performance over the full life of the asset. That means $40/kg should be viewed less as the point where sodium-ion first becomes competitive, and more as the point where the industry is forced to evaluate lithium-ion and sodium-ion on a more even playing field. Below that threshold, lithium-ion’s scale advantage can obscure system-level tradeoffs. Above it, the cost volatility of lithium becomes harder to ignore. At that point, buyers begin asking a different question: not “What is the cheapest cell today?” but “What chemistry gives us the most predictable, bankable, and secure cost structure over the life of the asset?” The Strategic Shift: Alsym’s Na-Series Since its founding Alsym saw problems with the way lithium-ion battery materials are sourced, refined, manufactured, traded, and used. The answer was sodium iron pyrophosphate (NFPP) because we saw it as a viable technology based upon globally abundant sodium that could also drop-in to existing lithium-ion manufacturing and integration infrastructure. Sodium is widely available, geographically distributed, and not exposed to the same strategic bottlenecks as lithium. Iron and phosphorus are also far more abundant and globally accessible than many incumbent battery materials. Together, they create a chemistry platform that is inherently better insulated from the tariff, export-control, and mineral-security risks that continue to affect lithium-ion batteries. Beyond the supply chain, the Na-Series presents a very compelling package for benefits for grid-scale battery system operators that culminate into a chemistry providing the safest, most stable, and most bankable cost structure over time. A more resilient energy storage future will depend on chemistry diversification, localized supply chains, and technologies designed around the real requirements of stationary storage—not the assumptions of the EV market. The Alsym Na-Series is built for that future.     (Image sourced from livewire markets/originally Shangai Metals Market) --- ## How much energy storage do we need for a completely clean U.S. electric grid in the A.I. Era? URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/how-much-energy-storage-do-we-need-for-a-completely-clean-u-s-electric-grid/ It was just a few years ago we were debating which had to happen first: do we need to build more clean energy generation to drive down the cost of it, incentivizing consumers to switch to electric heat and transport? Or, do we electrify everything first to justify that build-out of clean energy generation? It was a chicken-and-egg dilemma because electricity demand growth had stayed relatively flat for the two decades prior, meaning no explicit upwards or downwards trend pushed the thinking one way. Well, that sure has changed. When OpenAI released ChatGPT in 2023, it was the beginning of the end of the debate. We now know for certain electricity demand growth is expected to skyrocket with the buildout of AI datacenter infrastructure, to the tune of 177–192 TWh in 2024 to 800 TWh or higher by 2030 according to most recent forecasts by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). This forecast is 60% higher than a 2024 forecast provided by EPRI, insisting the expectations for our AI datacenter era power needs are only growing by the month.   (Image adapted from EPRI, February 2026)   Happening in parallel to unprecedented demand for power is the falling Levelized Cost of Energy for renewables (mainly defined as solar or wind paired with a battery storage system) which is expected to continue to fall. Meanwhile, US combined-cycle gas turbines have doubled in cost as data center demand initiated a supply crunch. The shift is a perfect storm of falling capital costs of the technology, better efficiency, government incentives and tax credits, and AI data center buildout. (Image source: World Resource Institute, September 2025) While renewable generation has risen dramatically—with utility-scale solar now accounting for more than half of all new power capacity coming online-—we still rely heavily on fossil fuels to fill the gaps when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.   Fossil fuel power plants have historically been the generators of choice because they can burn exactly the amount of fuel needed at any point of the day to meet energy demand. Battery energy storage is what changes that dynamic. By absorbing excess energy during high-generation periods of renewable energy, that stored power can be discharged during low- or no-generation periods. While thought to be far-off, 24/7 clean energy through this strategic pairing is possible and already happening in areas of the world. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) published a report last month, stating that “In high-quality resource regions, firm renewable electricity has crossed the threshold of cost competitiveness with new fossil fuel generation, to provide 24/7 clean energy.” So with power demand increasing, clean power costs falling, gas costs increasing, and 24/7 clean power demonstrating its viability, let’s ask ourselves the question: how much energy storage do we need for a 100% clean U.S. electric grid in the AI Era? A helpful starting point is a recent forecast from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA). In its 2043 outlook, NEMA estimates a U.S. grid with 2,395 GW of installed generating capacity, including 303 GW of standalone battery storage, 568 GW of solar, 408 GW of wind, 117 GW of nuclear, 533 GW of oil and gas, and 57 GW of coal. NEMA’s forecast is not a 100% clean electricity scenario. It is a high-demand grid scenario. It shows what the U.S. power system may need to serve rising electricity consumption from AI data centers, electrified transportation, industrial load growth, and broader electrification. So if we want to convert NEMA’s high-load 2043 grid into a 100% clean grid, the question becomes: what replaces that reliability function? A simple way to think about it is this: NEMA’s 303 GW of battery storage is the storage requirement for a future grid that still has nearly 600 GW of fossil fuel capacity. A 100% clean version of that same grid would almost certainly require more storage, more clean firm generation, more transmission, more demand flexibility, or some combination of all four. This is where the difference between “more batteries” and “enough clean flexibility” becomes critical. Short-duration lithium-ion batteries are already proving their value. They are excellent at shifting solar power from the middle of the day into the evening, providing fast-response grid services, reducing renewable curtailment, and helping meet peak demand. That is why battery storage deployment has accelerated so rapidly and why NEMA expects standalone storage to become one of the largest resource categories on the grid. But the final stretch toward 24/7 clean electricity is harder than the first stretch. Once renewables supply a very high share of electricity, the system does not just need four-hour storage. It needs storage and clean firm resources that can cover longer renewable shortfalls, localized grid constraints, seasonal mismatches, and reliability events that do not fit neatly into a single afternoon-to-evening cycle. This is also why measuring storage only in gigawatts can understate the scale of the challenge. A 303 GW battery fleet with four hours of duration represents about 1,200 GWh of battery storage energy capacity. At eight hours, it represents about 2,400 GWh. At twelve hours, it represents more than 3,600 GWh. The same amount of power capacity can represent very different levels of grid resilience depending on duration. For reference, the U.S. currently sits at about 61 GW / 174 GWh of energy storage capacity. A few hundred GW of storage may be what a high-load, partially fossil-backed grid needs. A 100% clean grid in the AI era likely needs storage and clean firm resources at a much larger effective scale — potentially hundreds of additional gigawatts of storage-equivalent reliability when accounting for the fossil capacity that must be replaced, the longer durations required, and the regional nature of new load growth. That is the real storage challenge ahead. Not whether batteries can help. They already are. The question is what kinds of batteries, at what durations, with what safety profiles and supply chains, can scale far enough to finish the job. This remains a daunting task, and it means we must explore high-performance, low-cost, safe opportunities to deploy storage safely near load centers with resilient domestic supply chains, without compounding lithium/cobalt/nickel/graphite dependencies, and potentially at longer durations than the current lithium-ion sweet spot.   --- ## Lithium-Ion Battery Fires – Blockers For Deployment URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/lithium-ion-battery-fires/ This post documents the high-profile lithium-ion incidents—spanning grid-scale energy storage systems (BESS), freight transport, and industrial facilities—that are contributing to this public resistance. While thermal runaway is statistically rare, the highly visible nature of these events creates a challenging reality for developers navigating local permitting and community relations. These headlines frequently translate into local opposition, prolonged permitting battles, and stalled timelines, highlighting the growing friction between essential energy infrastructure and public perception. Incidents 2026 Exeter, England Battery Box Fire6/22/2026 A fire broke out at a newly installed “Battery Box” energy storage unit on Pinhoe Road, a residential area in Exeter, England, on Monday, June 22, 2026. Emergency crews rushed to contain the smoking unit, establishing a safety cordon and isolating it from a nearby substation to cool it down. The BESS operator Amp Clean Energy stated the batteries will remain out of use while it conducts “a thorough investigation in partnership with National Grid to understand the cause of the smoke.” Source: bbc.com Rainworth, England Battery Storage Fire5/1/2026 A fire broke out at a lithium battery storage container on Rufford Colliery Lane in Rainworth, Nottinghamshire, on the morning of Friday, May 1, 2026. Firefighters from several stations responded to the blaze following a call at 5:21 a.m. Nearby residents were advised to keep their doors and windows closed due to the potential for smoke in the area. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire was slated for investigation once the flames were brought under control. Source: bbc.com San Marcos, CA Battery Storage Fire1/21/2026 A fire ignited at a battery energy storage unit powering Tesla EV chargers in a San Marcos, California, parking lot early on Wednesday, January 21, 2026. The fire was reported shortly before 3:00 a.m. at the Creekside Marketplace, prompting the precautionary closure of several businesses and half of the shopping center’s parking lot. Firefighters utilized water to cool the unit and brought the blaze under control within an hour. No injuries occurred, and the EV chargers themselves were left undamaged. A hazardous materials team responded to the scene, and fire crews remained to monitor for potential flare-ups until the Tesla-owned unit could be fully decommissioned. Source: sandiegouniontribune.com 2025 Warwick, NY Battery Storage Facility Fire12/19/2025 A fire ignited at a Convergent Energy and Power battery storage facility in the Village of Warwick, New York, on the night of Friday, December 19, 2025. The incident began around 10:15 p.m. at the 28 Church Street site, nearby the Warwick Valley Central School District facility that suffered a major, multi-day blaze in June 2023. Officials attributed the malfunction to water infiltration— the exact same failure pathway for the 2023 event. The event has reignited community concerns as the batteries had been recently retrofitted and deemed “waterproof” following the previous incidents. No injuries were reported. Source: westchester.news12.com Pasadena, CA General Motors Design Studio Fire10/22/2025 A massive four-alarm fire erupted at General Motors’ Advanced Design Center in Pasadena, California, on Wednesday evening, October 22, 2025, at approximately 5:50 p.m. More than 100 firefighters and hazardous materials teams responded to the blaze at the 149,000-square-foot facility located in the 600 block of Sierra Madre Villa Avenue. The fire involved lithium-ion batteries and multiple prototype concept cars under development, making it one of the largest structure fires in Pasadena in many years. A firefighter became trapped inside the building and issued a mayday call but was successfully rescued without injuries. Multiple concept vehicles were destroyed in the blaze, and the cause remains under investigation. Peoria, AZ BESS Facility Fire10/1/2025 A lithium battery fire broke out at a Salt River Project (SRP) battery storage facility near the border of Glendale and Peoria, Arizona, on the evening of Wednesday, October 1, 2025. The fire began around 5:00 p.m. at the Bolster Substation near 73rd Avenue and Northern Avenue, where flames were seen coming from containers housing batteries at the 25-megawatt site. Dozens of firefighters from Glendale, Peoria, and Phoenix responded to contain the blaze. No injuries were reported. Source: azfamily.com Boulder City Solar Facility Battery Fire9/24/2025 A lithium battery fire broke out at the Townsite Solar facility in Boulder City, Nevada, on the evening of Tuesday, September 23, 2025, after two Tesla Megapack battery units ignited. The first 911 call came in at 6:57 p.m., and Boulder City Fire Department crews arrived within eight minutes to find one unit fully engulfed in flames. A second battery unit later caught fire, and by 11:45 p.m. both continued to burn and smolder. Source: ktnv.com Parkfield, CA Battery Storage Fire8/30/2025 On August 30, 2025, a fire broke out at the California Flats Energy Storage Project, damaging four of the 84 Tesla Megapacks co-located with a 208 MW solar plant. The incident forced the evacuation of residences within a two-mile radius due to the threat of toxic smoke. First responders allowed the fire to burn out under controlled conditions, demonstrating the extreme difficulty of extinguishing large-scale lithium-ion fires and the severe air quality hazards they pose to nearby communities. Source: mcso.countyofmonterey.gov California I-80 Tesla Battery Truck Rollover8/11/2025 A semi-truck hauling Tesla batteries overturned on westbound Interstate 80 near Hirschdale Road, close to the California-Nevada border, on August 11, 2025. The big rig pulled over on its side around 7 a.m. No injuries were reported, but the specialized nature of the Tesla battery cargo complicated cleanup efforts and caused significant traffic delays. Westbound I-80 was reduced to one lane, backing up traffic to the Nevada state line. Source: sfchronicle.com Almelo, Netherlands Battery Storage Fire8/4/2025 A commercial battery container situated adjacent to an asylum seekers’ center caught fire on August 4, 2025. First responders utilized water and foam to extinguish the blaze. Air quality tests found minimal concentrations of hazardous substances in the smoke. This incident highlighted the significant proximity risks of placing high-energy-density lithium-ion battery storage near vulnerable populations, where toxic off-gassing could complicate evacuations. Source: 112nieuws.net Pohang City, South Korea Battery Storage Fire6/16/2025 A major fire broke out in the indoor energy storage room of a South Korean industrial steel plant on June 16, 2025. The blaze destroyed a two-story building alongside 8,392 battery modules before being extinguished after 29 hours. This event demonstrated the massive structural threat indoor battery fires pose, as thermal runaway can spread rapidly through battery racks, overwhelming automated suppression systems and causing total building loss while releasing highly toxic and explosive gases. Source: yna.co.kr Alaska Cargo Ship Car Carrier Fire6/3/2025 A major fire broke out on the cargo ship Morning Midas off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands on June 3, 2025. The vessel was transporting over 3,000 vehicles, including around 800 electric and hybrid cars. Smoke was first seen from the EV-laden deck. All 22 crew members evacuated safely after failing to control the blaze. The fire, still burning, was allowed to burn out due to the extreme challenges of extinguishing lithium-ion battery fires at sea. Source: nytimes.com Hillsboro, OR Battery Storage Fire5/22/2025 A fire occurred in the indoor battery room of a data center on May 22, 2025. Emergency crews successfully extinguished the blaze after a difficult five-hour operation. Indoor lithium-ion fires are notoriously dangerous because explosive gases like hydrogen and carbon monoxide can accumulate quickly in enclosed spaces. Such incidents highlight the severe risk of deflagration and the immense challenge firefighters face when navigating confined, smoke-filled structures. Source: kptv.com Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England Battery Storage Fire3/28/2025 A fire broke out at the Cirencester Hybrid Solar Farm on March 28, 2025, impacting two shipping containers full of lithium-ion batteries. Firefighters successfully contained the blaze to the two units, preventing propagation to a third container during a seven-hour response. The fire showcased the intense thermal radiation risks of containerized energy storage, as well as the significant threat of toxic smoke plumes, which prompted warnings for nearby residents to shelter in place. Source: epri.box.com East Tilbury, England Statera BESS Fire (300 MW / 600 MWh)2/19/2025 A fire broke out at Statera Energy’s Thurrock battery energy storage system (BESS) project in East Tilbury, Essex, on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 19, 2025. The incident began around 4:00 p.m. at the massive under-construction site, which is planned to be one of the largest battery facilities in the UK. Fire crews worked through the night and into the following day to contain the blaze, utilizing water curtains to prevent the flames from spreading beyond the single containerized battery unit involved. The fire was reportedly caused by a fault in a battery cell within the unit. While the facility was not yet fully operational, the incident required significant emergency resources and investigation before the site could be handed back to management on February 20. Source: energy-storage.news Moss Landing Power Plant Fire1/16/2025 On January 16, a significant fire erupted at the Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in California, one of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery storage sites. The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office issued an evacuation order to approximately 1,500 residents in Moss Landing and the Elkhorn Slough area due to potential exposure to toxic smoke. The fire continued to rage and smolder through the night into the morning, and due to the challenges in extinguishing a fire of this type and size, firefighters were forced to allow the fire to burn out on its own. Source: ess-news.com Port of Gandia, Valencia, Spain Battery Storage Fire1/5/2025 A fire and subsequent explosion occurred in a containerized battery system located at a port on January 5, 2025. The destroyed container was co-located with a 705 kW solar installation. Explosions are a primary danger of lithium-ion fires in enclosed containers, driven by the buildup of flammable off-gases from thermal runaway. This incident illustrated the catastrophic structural damage and risk to life safety these explosive events present. Source: pv-magazine.com 2024 Missouri Battery Recycling Facility Fire10/30/2024 Residents of a southeast Missouri town were forced to evacuate their homes Wednesday when a fire erupted at a nearby battery recycler. Residents were urged to shelter in place, close windows, doors and turn off window AC systems. The fire erupted in spite of what the company’s website calls “like the most sophisticated automated and remote supervised and controlled fire suppression system in the world.” Source: missouriindependent.com CATL Battery Factory Fire9/30/2024 A fire broke out Sunday at a factory belonging to Chinese battery giant CATL, which supplies electric vehicle makers including Tesla. Emergency services were sent to the plant to fight the fire and to organize the evacuation of any people who were inside the 15,000 square meter (160,000 square feet) site. Source: barrons.com Port of Los Angeles fire*9/27/2024 A tractor-trailer carrying lithium-ion batteries overturned and caught on fire on a highway near the Port of Los Angeles. There were flames as high as 10 feet. Firefighters were letting the fire burn out instead of trying to put it out with water. Source: nytimes.com Port of Montreal fire*9/23/2024 A fire broke out in a container at the Port of Montreal holding 15,000 kilograms of lithium batteries. Residents of the Mercier—Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough were advised to stay in their homes Monday (yesterday) evening and close their windows as smoke filled the area. Source: globalnews.ca Singapore’s Loyang Data Center*9/10/2024 A fire broke out at a data center in Singapore’s Loyang area on September 10, affecting battery rooms, power supply rooms, and an equipment storage room. The cause was believed to be an electrical issue in one of the battery rooms. Firefighting operations continued for over 36 hours, with some damage to the structure but no reported injuries. Companies like Lazada and Alibaba were affected by the incident, leading to significant disruptions for their services. Source: thestar.com.my Escondido Battery Fire (30 MW / 120 MWh)9/5/2024 A lithium-ion battery fire at an SDG&E energy storage facility in Escondido on September 5, 2024 burned for 12 hours, prompting evacuations of more than 500 businesses and 1,500 SDG&E customer homes, as well as schools. Source: nbcsandiego.com California highway fire*7/26/2024 A truckload of batteries caught fire after an accident on a California highway on Friday, July 26, just before 6 a.m. PST, trapping drivers in 109-degree heat from road closures as the lithium product burned through the weekend. Source: nytimes.com Santa Ana Battery Fire7/17/2024 A fire at a battery energy storage system facility in Santa Ana prompted the evacuation of an industrial area on Wednesday, July 17. Approximately 60 firefighters were involved in the response. Source: ocregister.com Otay Mesa Battery Fire (250 MW / 250 MWh)5/15/2024 The May 2024 Otay Mesa battery fire occurred at the Gateway Energy Storage facility, located in an industrial park. The fire, which lasted nearly 17 days, required 50 firefighters and 8 million gallons of water to control. Source: nbcsandiego.com Isa, Kagoshima, Japan Battery Storage Fire3/27/2024 The battery system of a solar plus storage plant caught fire. When firefighters checked the temperature and opened the building door, a massive explosion occurred as they attempted to use the smoke exhaust system. Four firefighters were injured, and the fire was extinguished the following day. This event perfectly demonstrates backdraft and deflagration risks; introducing oxygen or creating a spark in a gas-filled battery enclosure is highly lethal. Source: epri.box.com 2023 Melba, Idaho Battery Fire (2 MW / 8 MWh)10/2/2023 The battery fire at the Idaho Power substation in Melba, which started on October 2, 2023, burned for three days before it was fully extinguished. Source: kivitv.com Queensland, Australia (50 MW / 100 MWh)9/26/2023 A fire broke out during the commissioning process of Tesla Megapacks in Queensland, Australia in September 2023, producing hazardous smoke and prompting evacuations. The fire burned for four days before it was fully extinguished. Source: pv-magazine.com Valley Center, California (140 MW 560 MWh)9/18/2023 The Moss Landing battery fire on September 20, 2022 occurred at the Elkhorn Battery Energy Storage System in Valley Center, California. The fire started in a Tesla Megapack and burned for five hours, leading to a day-long shelter-in-place order for nearby residents and shutting down nearby Highway 1. Source: cbsnews.com Zhuhai City, China Battery Storage Fire8/19/2023 A fire broke out in a battery cabinet inside a warehouse. Firefighters used water to extinguish the flames, but the cabinet suddenly reignited. Staff, protected by firefighters, then used a forklift to transfer each cabinet outdoors for cooling. Reignitions are a hallmark danger of lithium-ion batteries. Stranded energy inside damaged cells can easily spark secondary fires hours or days after the initial knockdown, requiring prolonged submersion or isolation. Source: epri.box.com Chaumont, NY (5 MW / 15 MWh)7/27/2023 The 2023 Chaumont, New York battery fire occurred at a solar farm on July 27 and lasted for about six days. The fire prompted local authorities to issue a shelter-in-place order for residents within a mile of the site due to potentially toxic smoke Source: cbsnews.com Warwick, NY (8 MW / 38 MWh) + (4 MW / 17.9 MWh)6/26/2023 The 2023 battery fire in Warwick, NY, began on June 26 at a lithium-ion battery storage facility on Route 1A, 500 feet away from the Warwick Valley Central School District, and lasted for three days. The fire was caused by a manufacturing defect that allowed water to seep into the battery containers, resulting in an electrical short. On the same day, another fire broke out at a nearby battery storage site. Both incidents were likely triggered by a severe storm that caused lightning strikes and power surges. Source: hudsonvalley.news12.com East Hampton, NY (5 MW / 40 MWh)5/31/2023 The East Hampton battery fire occurred on May 31, 2023, at a 5-megawatt lithium-ion battery energy storage system located at a substation. The fire lasted for approximately two days before it was fully extinguished. Source: easthamptonstar.com 2022 Poggio-di-Nazza, Corsica, France Battery Storage Fire6/3/2022 A fire occurred in a battery container at a solar facility when a module entered thermal runaway. The fire propagated from the battery rack to the power conversion system, but firefighters prevented it from reaching the transformer compartment by continuously cooling it with water for three days. The event demonstrated the massive logistical burden these fires place on local water supplies and the sustained manpower required to prevent multi-system destruction. Source: aerosolfire.com Jangseong-gun, South Korea Battery Storage Fire5/2/2022 A battery located in a containerized solar plus storage system caught fire and burned severely. Containerized systems inherently trap explosive off-gases. This event served as another example of how rapidly thermal runaway can consume an entire modular unit, generating intense localized heat that threatens adjacent equipment and necessitates specialized hazardous materials response strategies. Source: epri.box.com Chandler, AZ Battery Storage Fire4/18/2022 A fire began in a substation building housing an AES/Fluence battery system on April 18. The intensely stubborn event lasted for approximately 13 days before being declared fully extinguished on May 1. The extraordinary duration of this fire highlights the nearly unstoppable nature of cascading thermal runaway in large enclosed systems, leaving communities exposed to prolonged operational disruptions and sustained environmental hazards. Source: epri.box.com Taichung City, Taiwan Battery Storage Fire3/30/2022 A fire occurred in a containerized battery storage system at a power plant in the Longjing District. Fires at critical power generation facilities pose significant cascading grid risks. The intense heat and toxic smoke from the battery failure not only threaten the immediate container but also risk damaging the broader power plant infrastructure, potentially causing localized grid instability or blackouts. Source: epri.box.com Gunwi-gun, South Korea Battery Storage Fire1/17/2022 A fire occurred in a battery system at a solar plus storage facility. The fire department reported heavy smoke but no visible flames upon opening the doors; an explosion occurred ten minutes after firefighters exited the structure, though no injuries were reported. This event perfectly illustrates the “delayed explosion” hazard, where smoldering cells quietly fill an enclosure with explosive gases that ignite unpredictably, posing a lethal trap for first responders. Source: epri.box.com Ulsan, South Korea Battery Storage Fire1/12/2022 A three-story energy storage building utilized for urban peak load reduction caught fire and was fully burnt to the ground. Locating multi-story battery systems in urban environments presents extreme life-safety risks. The sheer volume of toxic smoke produced by a fully involved three-story battery fire can easily inundate surrounding city blocks, causing mass respiratory distress and requiring highly complex, wide-scale urban evacuations. Source: epri.box.com 2021 LaSalle, IL Battery Storage Fire7/19/2021 One container at a rural battery plant caught fire and was extinguished later the same day. While resolved relatively quickly, rural battery fires present unique logistical dangers. Rural fire departments are often volunteer-based, lack specialized hazardous materials training, and may not have access to the millions of gallons of continuous water supply required to safely suppress and cool a major lithium-ion thermal runaway event. Source: epri.box.com Neuhardenberg, Germany Battery Storage Fire7/18/2021 An indoor battery energy storage system caught fire at a solar and frequency regulation facility. Indoor battery fires inherently concentrate toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and highly flammable hydrogen gas. The rapid buildup of these gases not only makes the initial fire exceptionally difficult to suppress but also turns the structure itself into a pressurized bomb, endangering all personnel on site. Source: epri.box.com Boulouparis, New Caledonia, France Battery Storage Fire7/13/2021 Two battery storage containers were destroyed in a fire at a rural solar plus storage facility. The destruction of multiple units highlights the persistent failure of container spacing and firebreak designs to stop thermal propagation. When one unit enters thermal runaway, the immense radiant heat often compromises adjacent containers before emergency crews can arrive and establish defensive water curtains. Source: epri.box.com Standish, MI Battery Storage Fire4/19/2021 Sparks were seen coming out of a battery container at a substation before a fire subsequently broke out. Responders successfully limited it to the single container. This event underscores the electrical arc dangers inherent in high-voltage battery systems. Electrical arcing can instantly vaporize metals, ignite nearby battery cells into thermal runaway, and pose a severe electrocution hazard to both facility workers and incoming firefighters. Source: wsgw.com Beijing, China Battery Storage Fire4/16/2021 A fire broke out at a battery energy storage system located on the roof of a shopping mall. A massive explosion occurred during the incident, tragically killing two firefighters and injuring a third. This highly fatal incident proved that rooftop battery installations are exceptionally dangerous; they combine structural collapse risks, difficult vertical access for firefighters, and extreme explosive hazards directly above densely populated civilian areas. Source: epri.box.com Bohle Plains, Australia Battery Storage Fire4/7/2021 A fire broke out during the commissioning phase of a Tesla Powerpack installation. Commissioning and testing phases are notoriously high-risk periods for battery storage facilities. As new systems are energized and pushed to their limits for the first time, hidden manufacturing defects or systemic wiring faults can quickly trigger thermal runaway before facility managers have fully integrated emergency response protocols. Source: epri.box.com Hongseong, South Korea Battery Storage Fire4/6/2021 A fire involving an LG Energy Solution system took place at an individually operated solar power generation facility. The fierce fire entirely destroyed the facility and was extinguished about four hours later. Total facility loss is a frequent outcome of lithium-ion fires because the heat generated by failing cells is so intense that standard structural materials melt or ignite, making salvage operations nearly impossible. Source: businesskorea.co.kr Yeongcheon, South Korea Battery Storage Fire3/11/2021 A fire of unknown cause broke out at a solar power plant in Samgwi-ri and was extinguished after approximately three hours by the dispatched fire department. The frequency of these spontaneous fires highlights a severe underlying danger in the industry: unpredictable thermal runaway. Even under normal operating conditions, microscopic internal cell defects can spontaneously short-circuit, triggering violent fires without any warning or external abuse. Source: sciencedirect.com 2020 Perles-et-Castelet, France Battery Storage Fire12/1/2020 A fire destroyed a container during acceptance testing at a hybrid supercapacitor and storage system substation. Investigators hypothesized that an electrical connection failure and an insulation fault caused an electric arc and short circuit. This demonstrates the extreme sensitivity of large battery systems to minor installation errors. A single faulty connection can generate an arc flash powerful enough to trigger cascading thermal runaway across the entire container. Source: epri.box.com Liverpool, UK Battery Storage Fire9/15/2020 An explosion occurred at a frequency regulation facility before emergency responders were even notified. The fire department contained the blaze to one out of three containers and confirmed the end of the incident two days later. The occurrence of an explosion prior to alarm activation shows how rapidly explosive off-gasses can reach the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL), giving facility operators and communities zero time to react. Source: epri.box.com Eumseong, South Korea Battery Storage Fire9/3/2020 A fire occurred in an indoor battery energy storage system. An investigation identified a manufacturing defect involving electrode processing as the root cause, leading LG Energy Solutions to voluntarily replace batteries produced at the associated factory. This event exposed the massive, widespread danger of systemic manufacturing defects; a single flawed production run can seed ticking time bombs across dozens of global facilities, making catastrophic fires almost inevitable. Source: hankyung.com Haenam, South Korea Battery Storage Fire5/27/2020 The battery energy storage system at a solar plus storage facility caught fire. The cause was suspected to be battery deterioration due to overcharging, as the site was operating above the government’s safe state-of-charge limits. This highlights the immense danger of pushing lithium-ion batteries beyond their safe operating margins to maximize profit; overcharging rapidly degrades cell stability and is a primary trigger for violent thermal runaway. Source: epri.box.com Brisbane, Australia Battery Storage Fire3/17/2020 A battery on the fifth floor of a Griffith University building caught fire. An explosion occurred, injuring one firefighter, and the fire was extinguished in two hours. Locating high-density batteries in high-rise, multi-use buildings presents extreme extraction and ventilation challenges. The explosion and resulting injury demonstrate the severe lethality of navigating narrow, smoke-filled corridors to suppress a chemical fire inside an occupied academic facility. Source: epri.box.com 2019 Gimhae, South Korea Battery Storage Fire10/27/2019 A fire occurred in a battery energy storage system. In the facility’s energy management system log record, the voltage deviation of each battery inside the rack continuously increased, resulting in thermal runaway. This event demonstrates how microscopic cell voltage imbalances can rapidly cascade into unstoppable thermal runaway, emphasizing the extreme danger of operating large-scale systems without highly sensitive and proactive battery monitoring safeguards. Source: sciencedirect.com Hadong, South Korea Battery Storage Fire10/21/2019 A fire destroyed a battery energy storage system at a solar facility. A nearby resident reported hearing a large explosion, and investigators determined the cause was a sudden deterioration in insulation performance. This highlights the severe explosive dangers of sudden insulation failure, which can spark instantaneous arcing and immediate ignition of flammable off-gases, threatening local residents with both blast overpressure and toxic smoke. Source: sciencedirect.com Gunwi, South Korea Battery Storage Fire9/29/2019 A fire occurred in a battery energy storage system while the system was actively discharging power to the grid. Discharging generates significant internal heat within lithium-ion cells. This incident demonstrates the severe operational risk of thermal mismanagement during heavy load periods, as inadequate cooling during standard discharge cycles can rapidly push battery modules beyond their safe thermal limits and initiate violent fire events. Source: sciencedirect.com Pyeongchang, South Korea Battery Storage Fire9/24/2019 Battery thermal runaway occurred after significant battery abuse from repeated overcharging and discharging, as confirmed in the site’s energy management log record. This highlights the immense danger of aggressively cycling lithium-ion batteries to maximize financial returns. Continuous overcharging rapidly degrades cell chemistry, removing safety margins and guaranteeing violent thermal runaway and toxic gas release if automated protection systems fail to intervene in time. Source: sciencedirect.com Yesan, South Korea Battery Storage Fire8/30/2019 The facility’s battery charging rate was aggressively increased from 70 percent to 95 percent, and a severe fire occurred just two days later. This event clearly demonstrates the acute danger of pushing lithium-ion storage limits. Operating batteries at near-maximum capacity critically destabilizes internal chemistry, making systems highly volatile and prone to sudden, catastrophic thermal runaway that endangers entire facilities and nearby civilian personnel. Source: sciencedirect.com Jangsu, South Korea Battery Storage Fire5/26/2019 A fire occurred at a solar plus storage facility. Fortunately, the scale of the localized fire was small enough to extinguish without requiring the local fire department. While successfully contained, the event underscores the spontaneous fire risks inherent in renewable energy storage sites. Unpredictable electrical shorts can trigger localized thermal runaway at any moment, necessitating continuous on-site vigilance and robust automated suppression systems. Source: epri.box.com Chilgok, South Korea Battery Storage Fire5/4/2019 A severe fire broke out at a solar generation facility while batteries were being replaced and restarted, destroying the site and causing millions in damage. This event demonstrates the extreme hazards present during battery maintenance and system reboot phases. Handling degraded cells and re-energizing large-scale lithium-ion systems can easily trigger deadly electrical arcs and instant thermal runaway, endangering maintenance workers and facility structures. Source: epri.box.com Surprise, AZ Battery Storage Fire4/19/2019 An internal cell defect initiated cascading thermal runaway at an AES facility. Despite clean agent suppression, explosive gases accumulated. When firefighters opened a door three hours later, oxygen agitated the gases, causing a catastrophic explosion that severely injured several first responders. This hallmark incident defined the extreme deflagration and backdraft dangers of lithium-ion fires, proving traditional suppression methods cannot stop thermal propagation. Source: epri.box.com Tualatin, OR Battery Storage Fire4/11/2019 A severe fire broke out during a new product test of six large lithium-ion batteries inside a commercial warehouse. Testing unproven high-capacity batteries indoors presents catastrophic risks. The sudden failure released intense heat and toxic volatile organic compounds into an enclosed space, highlighting how rapidly experimental lithium-ion technology can overwhelm standard structural fire protections and pose severe inhalation hazards to facility workers. Source: epri.box.com Ulsan, South Korea Battery Storage Fire1/21/2019 A massive fire broke out on the second floor of a three-story energy storage building at an industrial plant, rapidly spreading to the third floor. The intense blaze took three hours to extinguish. This incident showcases the extreme structural fire-spread dangers of multi-story battery installations. The tremendous upward heat flux from thermal runaway can easily bypass floor barriers, ensuring total building destruction. Source: motie.go.kr Jangsu, South Korea Battery Storage Fire1/15/2019 A fire occurred in a battery energy storage system while the system was idle and on standby after a charging cycle. This demonstrates the terrifying unpredictability of lithium-ion technology; highly destructive thermal runaway can occur spontaneously due to internal microscopic cell defects even when the system is resting. This “ticking time bomb” hazard requires continuous thermal monitoring and perfectly isolated safety zoning. Source: motie.go.kr Wando, South Korea Battery Storage Fire1/14/2019 A devastating fire broke out in an energy storage system at a solar power plant, destroying 61 square meters of a building and 1,200 battery modules. It required 70 firefighters to bring the intense blaze under control. This demonstrates the staggering mass-involvement danger of battery fires, where thermal propagation quickly consumes thousands of modules, creating uncontrollable infernos that severely drain local emergency resources. Source: epri.box.com Yangsan, South Korea Battery Storage Fire1/14/2019 A fire broke out in the morning at the energy storage system of an industrial steel plant. The fierce, stubborn blaze burned for more than four hours before being successfully extinguished. Industrial battery fires present severe prolonged hazards, as the deep-seated thermal runaway fiercely resists traditional water application. The long burn time exposes nearby industrial infrastructure to prolonged thermal radiation and corrosive smoke. Source: epri.box.com 2018 Samcheok, South Korea Battery Storage Fire12/22/2018 A severe fire completely destroyed a battery energy storage system at a solar facility. The catastrophic event caused such immense structural and elemental destruction that investigators were unable to determine the root cause. This highlights the incredibly destructive capability of large-scale lithium-ion fires. The staggering heat generated by cascaded thermal runaway literally melts evidence, complicating safety improvements and leaving communities vulnerable to repeat failures. Source: epri.box.com Jecheon, South Korea Battery Storage Fire12/17/2018 A major fire broke out at a battery energy storage plant, prompting the government to recommend the immediate shutdown of all uninspected sites nationwide. This event demonstrates the catastrophic systemic risk of widespread battery deployments. A single massive failure can expose dangerous industry-wide manufacturing or integration flaws, forcing emergency national shutdowns to prevent further violent thermal runaway events and protect the broader electrical grid. Source: epri.box.com Geochang, South Korea Battery Storage Fire11/22/2018 A massive fire burned through 17 square meters of a solar power facility, totally destroying the electricity storage room and a prefabricated sandwich panel structure. This event highlights the severe danger of housing high-density lithium-ion batteries in standard prefabricated structures. The intense, rapid heat of thermal runaway instantly melts and ignites cheap structural paneling, transforming a contained battery failure into a rapid, uncontainable structural inferno. Source: epri.box.com Mungyeong, South Korea Battery Storage Fire11/21/2018 A fire broke out at a rural solar plus storage facility. These types of battery fires demonstrate the unique dangers facing remote installations. Rapid thermal runaway produces immense heat and highly toxic smoke plumes that can quickly spark secondary wildfires in surrounding vegetation. The remote location also heavily delays emergency response times, allowing the fire to reach maximum destructive potential before suppression begins. Source: epri.box.com Yeongju, South Korea Battery Storage Fire11/12/2018 A fire of unknown cause broke out in a 33-square-meter sandwich panel building while the energy storage system was resting on standby. All 374 lithium-ion batteries were completely incinerated. This highlights the silent, spontaneous danger of resting batteries and the vulnerability of non-fire-rated enclosures. Without warning, a resting system can instantly ignite, rapidly consuming the entire building and releasing concentrated toxic gases. Source: epri.box.com Cheonan, South Korea Battery Storage Fire11/12/2018 A devastating fire broke out at a solar facility, destroying a dedicated energy storage room and incinerating 187 large-scale lithium-ion batteries. The stubborn fire required two hours to extinguish. This event showcases the extreme, concentrated thermal hazard of densely packed battery rooms. When cascading thermal runaway begins, the incredibly dense heat load makes direct interior firefighting nearly impossible and guarantees total equipment loss. Source: epri.box.com Yongin, South Korea Battery Storage Fire10/18/2018 A massive fire broke out in a 24-megawatt grid frequency regulation facility consisting of 12 densely packed battery containers. This incident highlights the profound catastrophic dangers of multi-container utility sites. When thermal runaway strikes high-capacity grid infrastructure, the intense fire threatens to propagate across massive fuel loads, releasing colossal amounts of toxic smoke and severely destabilizing local power grid operations. Source: epri.box.com * =large-scale lithium but not BESS fires --- ## Suppression Complexity: The Nightmare of Extinguishing Lithium Fires in Server Halls URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/suppression-complexity-the-nightmare-of-extinguishing-lithium-fires-in-server-halls/ Industry analysts estimate that more than 2,000 new data centers will be built worldwide over the next four years, with hundreds already under construction or in planning stages. In the United States alone, 1,500 new data centers are now in development, and in the past year alone, an estimated $600 billion was spent to develop new data center development. That’s more than the total cost of rebuilding the entire U.S. interstate highway system when adjusted for inflation. Despite this scale, experts consider data center buildout to still be in early stages. As this rapid growth continues, data centers are becoming larger, more complex, and significantly more energy-dense. Data centers’ ever-increasing energy density Traditional Data Center 5–10 kW / rack AI Data Center up to 50 kW / rack Up to 10× the power density of a traditional rack Source: UC Santa Barbara; Hanwha Data Centers Alongside this expansion, the increased adoption of lithium-ion battery systems introduces new fire protection challenges that differ from traditional facility risks. How Data Centers Deploy Lithium-ion Batteries Data centers typically deploy lithium-ion batteries as part of their broader backup power and energy storage infrastructure, designed to maintain continuous uptime during utility interruptions or grid instability. These systems play a critical role in ensuring that even momentary power losses do not disrupt cloud services, enterprise applications, or critical digital infrastructure. The most established use case is within uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems, where lithium-ion batteries provide immediate, short-duration power the moment a disruption occurs, bridging the gap until diesel generators or alternative backup systems fully activate. This rapid response capability is essential in environments where even milliseconds of downtime can have significant operational or financial impact. How Li-ion Batteries Are Deployed in Data Centers ① Centralized UPS Batteries② Rack-Level Li-ion ModulesUtility GridUPS RoomLi-ion Battery CabinetsServer HallServer RacksGeneratorDiesel Backup Li-ion batteries bridge utility power to server loads and sit in dedicated UPS rooms or directly inside server racks. Beyond traditional UPS configurations, lithium-ion systems are increasingly being deployed directly within server racks and modular power units. This approach supports the rising energy density demands of modern computing environments, particularly those driven by AI workloads and high-performance computing. Data Center Fires Are Dangerous and Complex Lithium-ion battery fires inside data centers pose a fundamentally different risk than conventional electrical fires. Failures caused by overheating, internal short circuits, physical damage, or battery management system malfunctions can trigger thermal runaway, a chain reaction where heat rapidly spreads from one cell to another. In dense server environments, that escalation can quickly impact entire battery arrays or nearby infrastructure. What makes these fires especially dangerous is their intensity and unpredictability. Lithium-ion incidents can generate extreme heat, release toxic and flammable gases, and reignite even after visible flames appear extinguished. Combine this with massive buildings with complex floor plans, secure perimeters, and high value equipment that doesn’t react well to water, and there’s a real potential for catastrophe. Stages of Thermal Runaway in Li-ion Battery Fires Click each stage to see how a single cell failure escalates into an uncontrolled chain reaction. Stage 1 Overheating Stage 2 Heat Accumulation Stage 3 Combustion   80–120°C Stage 1: Onset of Overheating The battery begins to overheat due to abuse, defects, or environmental stress. The solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer starts to decompose, releasing initial heat and gases. CO₂ CH₄ C₂H₄   120–250°C Stage 2: Heat Accumulation & Gas Release Heat outpaces dissipation. The separator melts, causing internal short circuits. Anode-electrolyte and cathode reactions cascade, releasing oxygen and highly flammable gases. H₂ C₂H₄ C₃H₆ O₂ HF   250°C+ Stage 3: Combustion & Explosion Pressure builds from accumulated gases. The cell vents or ruptures, and the flammable gas mixture ignites. Fire can propagate to adjacent cells and battery arrays — and reignite after apparent extinguishment. CO HF Flammable vapors Toxic smoke Temperature Ranges & Gases by Thermal Runaway Stage Slide 1 of 3 SEI Decomposition 80–120°C (176–248°F) The passivating SEI layer on the anode breaks down. Meta-stable components decompose exothermically, initiating self-heating before any visible failure. Gases released: CO₂ CH₄ C₂H₄ Slide 2 of 3 Separator Failure & Electrolyte Breakdown 120–250°C (248–482°F) The polyethylene/polypropylene separator melts (~130°C), causing internal short circuits. Electrolyte and electrode materials react, producing flammable and toxic gases. Gases released: H₂ C₂H₄ C₃H₆ O₂ HF CO Slide 3 of 3 Venting, Ignition & Propagation 250°C+ (482°F+) Internal pressure exceeds safe limits. The vent opens or the casing ruptures, ejecting electrolyte and hot particles. Released gases ignite, spreading thermal runaway to neighboring cells. Gases released: CO HF Alkane gases Combustion products ← Previous ← Previous ← Previous Next → Next → Next → What Global Data Center Fires Reveal About Battery Risk In data centers, where uptime is critical and equipment is tightly packed, a single battery failure can lead to widespread hardware damage, service outages, and complex suppression challenges that traditional fire protection systems are not designed to handle. Globally, data center fires have demonstrated how quickly battery-related incidents can escalate into large-scale operational disasters. France: OVHcloud SBG2 data center fire In 2021, a fire at the OVHcloud SBG2 data center in Strasbourg, France completely destroyed one facility and severely damaged another. Tens of thousands of servers were lost, millions of websites went offline, and significant amounts of customer data became unrecoverable. The incident remains one of the most severe data center fires on record and underscored the industry’s growing concerns around suppression complexity, redundancy planning, and fire propagation in high-density environments. South Korea: National Information Resources Service Center fire Similar risks emerged in South Korea following a fire at the National Information Resources Service Center in Daejeon. The incident impacted 647 government systems, with 96 completely destroyed. According to government officials, approximately 858 terabytes of public-sector data were lost, including years of critical work materials. The event highlighted how a single infrastructure failure inside a data center can create widespread operational disruption that ripples far beyond the physical facility itself. Major Li-ion & Data Center Fire Incidents Worldwide Buckeye, ArizonaAPS McMicken BESS · 2019Northern Virginia, USA“Data Center Alley” · high densityUnited Kingdom2022 heat-wave outagesStrasbourg, FranceOVHcloud SBG2 · 2021Daejeon, South KoreaNIRS Center · 2021 Major fire event High-density risk zone Infrastructure-stress event   Strasbourg, France — OVHcloud SBG2 (2021)One facility destroyed, another damaged; tens of thousands of servers lost.   Daejeon, South Korea — NIRS Center (2021)647 government systems impacted, 96 destroyed; ~858 TB of data lost.   Buckeye, Arizona — APS McMicken (2019)Battery-storage explosion that became a landmark Li-ion safety incident.   Northern Virginia — “Data Center Alley”World’s densest data-center corridor; responders pre-coordinate with operators.   United Kingdom — 2022 heat waveCooling failures caused Google & Oracle data-center outages. As lithium-ion battery deployments increase, temperature management has become another major concern for operators. These batteries typically perform best within controlled temperature ranges and can become unstable under extreme heat conditions. Elevated temperatures can accelerate electrolyte decomposition and increase the risk of thermal runaway, forcing facilities to rely heavily on continuous cooling, monitoring, and thermal management systems. That risk became especially visible during the 2022 UK heat wave, when temperatures exceeded 104°F and cooling systems struggled to maintain safe operating conditions. During the event, both Google and Oracle experienced outages linked to cooling failures at their UK data centers, demonstrating how environmental stressors can compound infrastructure vulnerabilities in high-density computing environments. For emergency responders, the scale and complexity of modern data centers are also changing how fire incidents are managed. In areas such as Northern Virginia’s “Data Center Alley,” fire departments increasingly coordinate closely with on-site security and engineering teams before incidents occur. How Different Battery Chemistries Can Unlock New Solutions As energy storage becomes more integrated into data center infrastructure, operators are increasingly exploring alternative battery chemistries that offer different performance, safety, and resilience advantages beyond traditional lithium-based systems. Sodium-ion batteries are emerging as a promising option due to their use of more abundant, less reactive materials, which can deliver greater thermal stability and more predictable behavior under stress, potentially simplifying safety requirements and enabling more flexible deployment strategies. Within this evolving landscape, Alsym Energy is developing a non-lithium battery chemistry specifically designed for safety-focused applications, using inherently stable materials to help critical infrastructure operators reduce operational risk while maintaining reliability and continuity. --- ## Technological Advancement Calls for Higher Standards: When Frontline Soldiers Deserve a More Rugged Battery URL: https://www.alsym.com/knowledge-hub/technological-advancement-calls-for-higher-standards/ From consumer gadgets to military hardware, battery safety has been a constant topic. While civilian media have shone a bright spotlight on safety incidents in residential and commercial spaces, the safety concerns of battery use in military applications has remained shadowed. Lithium-ion batteries remain the best choice for some small-scale battlefield applications, but in larger scale deployments like energy storage, battery chemistry evolution is raising the question – should, and can, energy storage technology on the frontline be as robust as an M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank?  As the U.S. Department of War explores how Lithium-Ion (Li-ion) batteries fail under the significant thermal, mechanical, and electrical stress of abusive conditions, the industry rises to provide a better solution. The typical battery today, lithium-ion, requires delicate handling and pose five critical risks in a defense context: Extreme Temperature Instability: For optimal performance, Li-ion batteries should be operated between 15°C and 35°C and pose safety risks at more extreme temperatures: Heat: At above 60°C, the electrolyte begins to decompose, leading to irreversible side reactions. To prevent this, Li-ion batteries require constant, power-intensive thermal monitoring and maintenance to avoid thermal runaway. Cold: In temperatures below 0°C, Li-ion’s electrolyte becomes sluggish, severely limiting the battery’s ability to charge or discharge. Fire Hazard (Thermal Runaway): A simple penetration from a bullet or shrapnel can puncture the battery, causing it to generate heat and oxygen. This feeds a fire that is extremely difficult to extinguish, often requiring evacuation and a “controlled burn” approach. Performance Degradation: Intensive use, extreme temperatures, or frequent cycling accelerate capacity loss over time. This degradation leads to reduced energy storage and backup duration, requiring expensive and repeated investment in system augmentation. Constant Monitoring Required: Li-ion systems must be continuously monitored 24/7 for voltage and state of charge (SOC) by systems that must remain energized, even when not in use. Other types of batteries, like sodium-ion batteries, can be stored at a zero state of charge. Supply Chain Risk: A majority of the world’s lithium-ion manufacturing capacity and 94% of its production is based in China, posing significant cybersecurity and supply risks for U.S. defense use.   As the domestic battery manufacturing industry matures, there’s a lesser-known alternative maturing to support the use cases where lithium ion fails: sodium ion. Sodium-ion’s battery chemistry, specifically modified polyanionic types, offers superior performance in extreme temperatures and a better safety profile. The fundamental advantage is chemical: sodium-ion chemistry with hard carbon anodes allows for the use of propylene carbonate (PC) in the electrolyte instead of the less stable ethylene carbonate, diethyl carbonate, and dimethyl carbonate (EC/DEC/DMC) found in lithium-ion systems. PC’s higher flash point and better thermal stability make the battery significantly less likely to ignite under stress. Unlike Li-ion, which can enter a self-sustaining thermal runaway, some sodium-ion chemistries remains stable even under severe abuse conditions, including physical damage, overcharging, or extreme temperatures. This stability eliminates the cascading failure mode that makes Li-ion fires so dangerous and difficult to put out. NFPP+: Non-Flammability and Peak Performance Standard sodium-ion (NFPP: Na₄Fe₃(PO₄)₂P₂O₇) is a robust and predictable technology offering a wider operating temperature range and good cycle life. This wider range significantly reduces the need for expensive and complex active cooling in high-temperature use cases, like the battlefield. Alsym’s NFPP+ elevates this technology through proprietary innovations in cell components, including unique electrode dopants and electrolyte additives. These additives further enhance temperature tolerance by preventing the chemical decomposition that triggers thermal runaway. They create a stable electrochemical environment that resists breaking down and prevents the battery from generating the oxygen needed to fuel combustion. Through repeated innovation, NFPP+ can now deliver: Non-flammability. (No thermal runaway risk.) Excellent cycle life (>10,000 cycles). Fast charge/discharge and high round-trip efficiency. Best-in-class energy density for NFPP sodium-ion (250 Wh/L).   See Defense Industry page about NFPP+’s application for the military. --- ## Beyond Cell-Level Energy Density: Why Wh/Acre Drives Energy Storage Project Value URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/beyond-cell-level-energy-density-why-wh-per-acre-drives-storage-project-value/ Land acquisition and permitting are critical bottlenecks for grid-scale energy storage development. When evaluating battery technologies, industry stakeholders often default to cell-level energy density like watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg) or liter (Wh/L), as a proxy for footprint efficiency. However, this microscopic view rarely translates directly to the macroscopic realities of site planning.   To accurately capture those realities, the industry must evaluate density through a different lens. For stationary energy storage, the true metric of land-use efficiency is watt-hours per acre (Wh/Acre). A battery with high cell-level density can still result in a sprawling, land-intensive facility if the system requires extensive ancillary equipment and wide safety setbacks. Even though battery storage component costs have hit record lows according to BloombergNEF, evaluating project viability based purely on component economics creates a false sense of financial security. When Wh/Acre is overlooked, the economic disadvantages of land-inefficient sites become highly pronounced, as sprawling facilities require extensive land acquisition that directly inflates upfront capital expenditures.   The Limitations of Cell-Level Metrics  The root of this land-inefficiency problem lies in how the industry traditionally measures battery performance. Lithium-ion batteries offer high cell-level energy density, making them the standard for electric vehicles where weight and space are primary constraints. They dominate portable applications because of their high energy per unit mass. In stationary applications, it is frequently assumed that this high density will naturally yield a compact project footprint, but the reality of deployment is more complexthan that.  This complexity arises because a completed lithium-ion battery energy storage system includes much more than just the cells. To maintain safe operating temperatures and mitigate the risk of thermal runaway, these systems require substantial active thermal management, typically in the form of heavy HVAC units or liquid cooling systems. Liquid cooling systems are necessary to manage internal temperatures and prevent overheating by maintaining them within a very narrow range. All of this ancillary equipment adds significant volume and weight to the system enclosures, diluting the energy density when measured at the container level.  Furthermore, this ancillary equipment creates an operational penalty by drawing parasitic loads from the system, reducing the net energy available for dispatch. System designs must account for these balance-of-system requirements during the design phase, which complicates procurement and increases site preparation costs. The assumption that high cell density equals a compact site ignores the physical requirements of managing volatile chemistries at scale.  How Fire Setbacks Impact Land Use  Beyond the physical footprint of cooling equipment, the most severe impact on Wh/Acre comes from safety regulations. To mitigate the thermal runaway risks inherent to traditional lithium-ion chemistries and their flammable liquid electrolytes, fire codes, such as NFPA 855, mandate strict spatial separations between battery enclosures. These setbacks are designed to prevent fire propagation from one container to the next.  Especially for large-scale projects, these mandatory firebreaks translate into massive swathes of lost acreage. A 100-megawatt-hour facility can necessitate multiple acres of unutilized space solely to comply with mandated safety clearances. In addition to federal frameworks, local Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) often layer even more stringent setback parameters onto a project, adjusting clearance mandates based on adjacent property lines, public roadways, and critical infrastructure.  Navigating these varied and stringent local and federal regulations extends permitting timelines and introduces severe project risk. A site that appears perfectly sized on a preliminary map may be rendered unviable once fire safety buffers are applied, forcing project planners and developers back to the drawing board. Ultimately, the apparent advantage of cell-level energy density is entirely consumed by the empty space required to deploy it safely.  The Economic Reality of Sprawling Sites  When Wh/Acre is overlooked while measuring density, the economic disadvantages of spatially inefficient sites become glaringly apparent. Sprawling facilities require extensive land acquisition, directly driving up upfront capital expenditures. Civil engineering costs scale linearly with the site footprint; more acres mean more grading, trenching, and fencing before a single container is placed. Because heavy civil works and extensive concrete foundations remain primary drivers of severe CapEx constraints, sprawling site designs permanently lock in higher structural costs.  To offset these rising land and civil costs, developers are forced to look further afield for suitably large parcels that can accommodate mandatory firebreaks, but they often sacrifice proximity to high-value grid nodes in the process. Siting projects further from optimal interconnection points complicates grid integration, increases transmission infrastructure costs, and can lead to line losses. Failing to secure locations near legacy infrastructure forces developers into building long-distance, high-capacity power-lines, creating a physical distance penalty that makes interconnection so expensive that less than a quarter of queued projects ever reach completion.  Even if a remote site is successfully secured, complex site preparation and extensive balance-of-system requirements extend construction schedules and inflate labor costs. These extended permitting and construction timelines leave projects highly vulnerable to inflationary pressures, repeatedly forcing developers to stall deployments or renegotiate off-take contracts. The inability to predictably site energy storage without prohibitive land constraints limits deployment opportunities. Ultimately, evaluating project viability based purely on cell-level metrics creates a false sense of spatial efficiency that quickly unravels during the civil engineering and permitting phases.    Rethinking the Value of Space  To truly improve project-level energy density and bypass these economic roadblocks, the industry must eliminate the need for vast firebreaks and bulky cooling equipment. The use of non-flammable sodium-ion batteries solves this on both fronts. Eliminatingthermal runaway risks fundamentally at the cell level changes site layout parameters. Enclosures no longer require wide safety setbacks or active liquid cooling, allowing for tightly packed facilities. For EPCs, this means simplified land preparation, reduced civil costs, and accelerated construction. For IPPs, addressing the root cause of land inefficiency maximizes Wh/Acre, unlocking prime real estate to build scalable, highly profitable storage projects.  --- ## Strategies for Community Opposition Only Go So Far – Non-Flammable Batteries Bring You Home URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/strategies-for-community-opposition-only-go-so-far-non-flammable-batteries-bring-you-home/ Battery energy storage is one of the most important tools the grid has right now. It smooths the grid, stores cheap renewable power, and keeps the lights on when demand spikes. It’s also one of the most contested, and increasingly, the reason comes down to one word: safety. Across the country, developers are walking away from town halls empty-handed, not blocked by regulators, not stalled by technical hurdles, but stopped cold by residents and local governments with safety concerns that are proving very hard to overcome.  The pattern has become familiar and increasingly costly. At least 96 battery projects with a cumulative capacity of 25,000 megawatts have faced public pushback since 2021. The most commonly cited reasons are public safety and environmental concerns. In Massachusetts alone, since 2024, developers have canceled at least four large battery projects, all of which faced strong local pushback.  This isn’t merely a community relations problem. It is a capacity problem. Every project that stalls is a gap in the grid, a delayed revenue stream, and a reminder that what you are proposing to deploy matters — not just for performance, but for public trust.  Communities Aren’t Wrong to Be Worried  At this point, Moss Landing doesn’t need an introduction. The January 2025 lithium-ion battery fire—which burned for days, destroyed large portions of the facility, and forced the evacuation of more than 1,500 residents—has become a defining moment for the industry. In the months that followed, nearby residents reported persistent headaches and bloody noses, while university researchers detected elevated levels of heavy metals in a nearby marsh.  Lithium-ion batteries contain organic electrolyte solvents with low flash points. Under the right stressors — overcharging, physical damage, extreme heat, age — a cell can enter thermal runaway: a self-sustaining chain reaction in which the battery generates its own heat and oxygen and reaches extreme temperatures.   The Moss Landing facility used a nickel, manganese and cobalt chemistry (NMC) that battery researchers note is more volatile than the iron-phosphate (LFP) chemistry now common in newer grid-scale projects. But the fire’s scale shaped public perception of the entire technology category, not just one facility.  The opposition that followed has been organized and effective. In a rural Massachusetts town, a proposed 180-megawatt facility became a flashpoint: the town passed a local bylaw banning lithium storage outright, and when the developer petitioned the state to override it, more than 200 people packed a school gymnasium for three hours of public comment. Fire risk was the loudest concern, but residents also raised toxic runoff into a drinking water watershed and the noise of continuous industrial cooling in a residential community. In Virginia’s Rockingham County, a county board of supervisors unanimously denied a special use permit for a standalone storage project in 2025 — even after it had cleared earlier permit stages and secured a power purchase agreement with the regional utility. Across some states, county boards have passed indefinite bans.   Members of Congress have begun intervening on the side of activists. The infrastructure of opposition, including nonprofits, Facebook groups, legal challenges, and political pressure has matured quickly. This points to a shift in the permitting landscape where resistance is coordinated, introducing longer timelines, added friction, and greater uncertainty for projects that once would have moved forward.  The Problem Isn’t Perception. It’s the Chemistry.  In response to this community opposition, the battery industry’s response has largely been that lithium-ion is safer than it used to be. Newer iron-phosphate chemistries run cooler than the nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries that burned at Moss Landing. Outdoor installations are designed to contain a fire within a single unit. Failure rates have come down as the technology has matured.  All of that is true. None of it resolves the underlying problem.  Lithium-ion batteries are built around a fundamentally flammable electrolyte. Thermal runaway is not a defect or an edge case. It is a known failure mode that the entire system-level engineering of a lithium-ion BESS installation exists to prevent. Active cooling, fire suppression, setback distances, emergency response plans aren’toptional add-ons. They are the direct consequence of deploying a chemistry that can, under the wrong conditions, sustain its own fire.  When a community looks at that engineering apparatus and concludes there is something to worry about, they are not misinformed. They are reading the system correctly.  When the Message Can Only Go So Far  The developer response to community opposition has generally been reasonable: hold open houses early, publish plain-language safety information, invite fire chiefs to visit comparable operating facilities, and emphasize the differences between a 2025 design and what burned at Moss Landing in 2023. These efforts matter.  But they share a structural limitation. Every reassurance is downstream of an admission: yes, under certain conditions, this battery can catch fire. The entire engineering and safety apparatus around a lithium-ion BESS installation exists to manage a risk that is real. By most reports, modern safety systems like liquid cooling and immersive fire extinguishing materials are very effective. But asking a community to trust that management — in perpetuity, operated by a company they don’tknow, for a facility they probably didn’t ask for — is a harder sell than it looks on a slide deck.  The projects that navigate opposition most successfully tend to start earlier, engage more continuously, involve local voices in project design rather than just in comment hearings, and sometimes offer communities a direct economic stake in the outcome. And successful developers also know how to identify “no-go” communities as early as possible in the process – after all, no one wants an uphill permitting process.  These are real levers. But even best-practice outreach has a ceiling when the underlying chemistry gives people something legitimate to worry about.  A Different Community Starting Point  Non-flammable chemistry is more than just a technical specification. For developers navigating community opposition, it is a radically different way to pitch a project. It has the potential to unlock projects in communities that show opposition from the beginning, which is often a key indicator of the eventual success or failure of the permitting push.  Not every battery chemistry carries the same risk profile. There is growing recognition that addressing fire risk at the chemistry level is the most effective way to respond to community concerns, but not all alternatives solve this cleanly. Some non-flammable battery approaches exist, including flow batteries, but they often introduce tradeoffs in cost, performance, footprint, or deployment flexibility that limit where they can be used at scale.  Sodium-ion batteries built on polyanionic chemistry such as sodium iron pyrophosphate (NFPP) formulations offer a meaningful improvement in safety compared to traditional lithium-ion systems. They are more thermally stable and reduce the likelihood and severity of thermal events, even if they are not inherently non-flammable. Alysm’s NFPP+ chemistry goes a step further, engineered to eliminate flammability at the cell level and shift how risk is addressed.  Where lithium-ion requires active cooling, fire suppression, setbacks, and emergency planning to manage the consequences of potential thermal runaway, a chemistry that reduces or eliminates that risk at the cell level changes how much of that infrastructure is required.  Cooling systems can be simplified, and increasingly common liquid cooling architectures may not be necessary. Fire suppression systems may still be present for other components within the system, but they no longer need to be designed around worst-case battery fire scenarios. Setback requirements driven by thermal runaway risk can also be reconsidered.  The permitting conversation shifts from “here is how we manage the fire risk” to a fundamentally different starting point, where fire risk has been materially reduced or designed out at the cell level.  For developers working in contested markets — rural communities near watersheds, dense urban areas, locations adjacent to schools or hospitals, regions like PJM where community opposition has become a structural project risk — this is not a minor differentiator. It is a different starting point for every public conversation about the project.  The community question shifts as well. Instead of “what happens if it catches fire,” the question becomes “what does it do.” That is a conversation developers knowhow to effectively handle.  The Bottom Line  Community opposition to battery storage is not going away. The incidents that drive it are real. The concerns are grounded. And the organized infrastructure of opposition has become sophisticated enough to stop well-capitalized, technically sound projects in markets that urgently need storage capacity. The industry’s approach to community engagement must account for battery chemistry from the start. Each chemistry has its own strengths and weaknesses in terms of cost, ease of community acceptance, and other attributes like performance in extreme weather and over the long term, for example. Strategic planning for community engagement should be done in parallel with setting specifications – they are inherently linked.  Projects that start with a non-flammable chemistry change the terms of the public debate before the first open house is scheduled. They give fire chiefs something different to say. They give developers a different answer to the hardest question in the room – the tradeoff is that you may be the first developer to say that in that city, state or power market, and that distinction doesn’t come without its own challenges.  A non-flammable battery doesn’t just change the permit process. It changes the conversation at the town hall, the hearing, and the kitchen table. That is what a game-changer actually looks like.    --- ## From Alchemy to Certainty URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/alsym-physics-informed-ai-platform-for-battery-development/ Alsym’s Physics-Informed AI Platform for Battery Development  At Alsym, our mission is to provide safe, affordable energy for all — a billion-people purpose, and not merely a billion-dollar goal. Batteries are the path forward; however, today’s dominant chemistry – lithium-ion – poses inherent safety risks that make it unsuitable to serve as the solution at the scale the world needs. Therefore, we have set out to develop an innovative alternative.  The Problem Traditional battery development takes decades to advance from concept to commercial product. This delay is not due to the lack of effort, but rather the combinatorial space of possible chemistries is effectively infinite, and each experiment requires days to weeks to yield meaningful data. Sequential, manual experimentation cannot make meaningful progress in that space at the speed the market demands. It is no coincidence that the last major battery chemistry innovation, lithium-ion, took nearly two decades to transition from lab discovery to commercial viability, and that was 35 years ago. The Solution In 2020, we began developing an alternative approach — one that leverages the speed and power of AI and computation, integrating them with real–world battery performance and data. The result is a physics-informed AI platform that compresses the development cycle down from more than a decade to just 12 to 18 months. This platform operates as a closed learning loop comprising four connected stages, all underpinned by deep, battery-specific domain expertise. An Integrated Platform Physics-Guided Search. The combinatorial space of possible batteries is impossibly large. It consists of trillions of combinations of salts, solvents, additives, electrode materials, dopants, and processing conditions across each subsystem. Because the cathode, anode, and electrolyte must be chemically and electrochemically compatible, these subsystem spaces multiply together rather than being additive. Consequently, the effective search space for a viable battery product is trillions compounded upon trillions. No amount of brute-force experimentation can effectively navigate this complexity. No amount of purely data-driven AI can navigate it either: the space is too sparse, and the signal too noisy. To unlock the awesome pattern-recognition capabilities of AI and ML, the system requires guidance. Physics is the key to making this process tractable. Quantum mechanical simulations, density functional theory, and molecular dynamics applied across multiple length scales eliminate candidates that are thermodynamically unstable, electrochemically incompatible, or mechanistically implausible. Furthermore, performance specifications, material availability, synthesis feasibility, and manufacturing costs serve as additional constraints, narrowing down the most viable options. Through this rigorous filtering process, trillions of possibilities are distilled into thousands. This entire foundation of computation and simulation rests upon both publicly available electrochemical data and years of our proprietary data detailing molecular and electrochemical battery behavior.  Knowledge-Optimized Sampling. The filtered space from the first step remains too large to test exhaustively. Therefore, our AI selects the optimal set of experiments to execute. Most importantly, it does not select those most likely to yield the best single result, but rather those poised to yield the most valuable information. Optimizing for a single best result tends to trap the search within a local maximum; conversely, optimizing for information gathering expands our understanding of the entire space and accelerates convergence towards the true overall optimum including successive iterations.  Autonomous Experimentation. Since batteries are physical products, no amount of simulation replaces real-world data. Our robotic systems run experiments around the clock under rigorously controlled, consistent conditions. Consistency matters just as much as speed: by eliminating human-to-human variability in cell assembly, electrolyte preparation, and testing, the signal in the resulting data is cleaner and more comparable across all candidates. As a result, fewer experiments are required to draw confident, actionable conclusions. Molecular Diagnostics. This is where the platform’s compounding advantage resides. When a cell underperforms, or overperforms, the key question is not simply whether it passed or failed, but which internal process drove the result (such as anode interfacial reactions, cathode kinetics, or electrolyte transport) and what that implies for subsequent adjustments. Standard cycling data reveals what happened, but not why. However, non-destructive, in-situ diagnostics, run during normal cycling, can provide these answers. They produce an electrochemical fingerprint for each cell, enabling both diagnosis (what occurred and where) and predictive ranking (comparing candidates early in their lifecycles to predict long-term performance without waiting months). Moreover, ex-situ materials characterization operates on a slower, campaign-level loop alongside these continuous diagnostics. While destructive, it provides molecular-level root-cause confirmation when the electrochemical signal needs verification. The key is to integrate both in-situ and ex-situ diagnostics to generate a complete picture, and then seamlessly feed that information back into the platform. These four processes form a tight, closed-loop learning system. Each experiment refines the next selection; each diagnostic output updates both the physics-guided filter and the AI’s understanding of the chemistry. Consequently, the platform becomes more intelligent with every iteration. Domain Expertise & Product Specifications. Battery-specific knowledge underpins every stage of our process. While physics constrains what is possible, domain expertise constrains what is meaningful in a battery context — determining which failure modes matter, what diagnostic patterns mean, how coin cells translate to pouch cells, when a dataset can be trusted, etc. This expertise is proprietary, accumulated over years of building and diagnosing real cells, and cannot be short-circuited by capital alone. Alsym’s output is a product: a better battery. Product specifications are essential because they inform the questions we ask, the priorities we set, and the evaluations we make. We set out explicitly to develop a safe, affordable battery chemistry. Achieving a deployable, non-flammable, long-lasting, and low-cost solution was not a happy accident of our chemistry choices; it was achieved by deliberate design.   Speed Through the Full Battery Development Cycle This platform approach becomes even more critical when transitioning from the lab to the pilot phase, and ultimately to commercial manufacturing. Every transition introduces new physical phenomena, higher costs, and slower iteration cycles. Lab results do not automatically translate to the pilot scale, and pilot results do not automatically translate to full-scale manufacturing. The physics, thermal gradients, material volumes, mechanical stresses, process tolerances, and physical machinery all change drastically. Historically, the battery industry was crowded with promising concepts that ultimately never scaled.  Our platform does not simply transfer results across scales; it transfers understanding. The electrochemical model built at the lab scale — identifying which processes are rate-limiting, which interfaces are most sensitive, and how the system responds to changes in conditions — serves as the foundational starting point for pilot-scale work and beyond, replacing the mere hope that initial lab data holds true. When results inevitably shift during the scaling process, the platform does not merely indicate that something went wrong at a new scale. Instead, it reveals which internal process changed, why it changed, and what to adjust. Deviations from expected behavior are diagnosable immediately rather than being treated as new unknowns, ensuring that solutions are found faster and are more actionable.  The Compounding Advantage Ultimately, the platform’s advantage is not just speed and scale: it is interpretation. Every experiment yields sufficient signal so that fewer trials are required. Physics narrows the search before any cell is built; in-situ diagnostics close the learning loop during cycling; and domain expertise modulates every decision. Each cycle refines the next, and each failure informs the next candidate. Furthermore, each piece of organizational knowledge raises the baseline for future developments. This advantage compounds with every experiment run, establishing our approach as a uniquely durable innovation.   We are driven to provide affordable, safe energy to all. Time is the enemy, and our Physics-Informed AI platform for battery development is our strongest weapon to defeat it.   --- ## Prussian Blue Helped Put Sodium-Ion on the Map. NFPP+ Will Take It Mainstream. URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/prussian-blue-helped-put-sodium-ion-on-the-map-nfpp-will-take-it-mainstream/ The news that Natron Energy ceased operations in September 2025, halting its plans for a massive $1.4 billion, 24-gigawatt-hour gigafactory in North Carolina, has prompted interesting discussions about the trajectory of sodium-ion technology. Over a 13-year run, Natron successfully brought Prussian Blue cathode chemistry out of the laboratory and into commercial deployment. They proved to a skeptical market that a lithium-free battery could function reliably. While their exit marks a difficult moment for the early sodium-ion community, it is crucial to understand what this development does and does not mean for sodium-ion chemistries.  Despite this isolated commercial setback, the global sodium-ion market remains exceptionally robust, with industry analysts projecting it to surpass $7 billion by 2034. A common misconception is that the sodium-ion market is a uniform entity, leading some to incorrectly assume that the company’s operational closure represents an inherent flaw in sodium-ion chemistry itself. In reality, sodium-ion represents a diverse family of chemical architectures, much like lithium-ion encompasses everything from LFP to NMC.  While Natron utilized one specialized chemistry within the sodium-ion category, their exit could be attributed to causes other than any fundamental technical flaw. Regardless of the exact catalysts for Natron’s closure, the conflictingnarratives that followed offer a crucial takeaway for the energy sector. To successfully navigate the sodium-ion space, stakeholders must understand the underlying chemical distinctions, as different architectures are uniquely suited for entirely different commercial applications.  Furthermore, Natron pursued distinctly different use cases than companies focused on other applications like utility-scale or bulk commercial stationary storage. Their technology was primarily geared toward ultra-high-power, short-burst applications—such as uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems for data centers—which carry entirely different market dynamics and engineering requirements. Their closure is that of a specific business model attempting to scale a specific chemistry, rather than anything indicative of a failure of the broader sodium-ion concept.  The Misconception of a Monolithic Market  Treating all sodium-ion batteries as identical obscures deep chemical diversity. Prussian Blue, the cathode material utilized by Natron, is characterized by its wide, open crystalline lattice. This structure allows for incredibly rapid charge and discharge rates, making it well-suited for industrial power applications requiring immediate, intense bursts of energy to stabilize a system for a few minutes.  However, prioritizing rapid power delivery involves structural trade-offs. Prussian Blue is notoriously difficult to synthesize at gigawatt scale without introducing defects or moisture contamination. It requires highly controlled manufacturing environments, which heavily drive up capital expenditures. Additionally, the open structure results in lower overall volumetric energy density. To match the production capacity of higher-density lithium-ion competitors, manufacturers scaling Prussian Blue required significantly larger infrastructure and additional production lines. Research, including a 2025 Stanford University study, also highlighted how certain early sodium architectures faced degradation problems that compromised long-term cycle life.  But the fact that a Prussian Blue architecture faced scaling hurdles does not mean all sodium-ion chemistries share those vulnerabilities. Transitioning away from critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel remains an economic necessity. The path forward simply requires utilizing branches of the sodium-ion family tree built specifically for massive scalability and dense energy storage.  Why NFPP is Built for Energy Storage  For markets like commercial real estate, defense installations, and utility sectors, the priority is not only ultra-fast, multi-minute discharging. These markets require stable, long-lasting, and easily manufactured bulk storage to manage peak shaving, load shifting, and renewable energy integration over several hours.  The urgency for these bulk solutions is accelerating. As lithium-ion deployments face increasing community pushback, with developers recently canceling roughly 79 gigawatts of battery storage capacity nationwide due to local fire and safety concerns, the market is actively seeking reliable, non-lithium alternatives. This is where polyanion chemistries, specifically NFPP (sodium iron fluorophosphate), become really interesting.  NFPP utilizes a robust, three-dimensional polyanion framework bonded by strong covalent connections. This structurally rigid 3D framework experiences less than 4% volume change during operation, it maintains exceptional structural stability, resulting in a long-duration cycle life. Furthermore, rather than relying on problematic transition metals like manganese, nickel, or cobalt, which can decompose and introduce severe thermal risks, the NFPP cathode is built on stable, widely available elements like sodium, iron, and phosphorus. By leveraging this highly stable, non-volatile foundation, battery engineers can deliver the dependable, heavy-duty energy storage required to meet the economic and performance demands of the broader grid market, entirely without sacrificing safety.  The Alsym Distinction: Moving to NFPP+  While standard NFPP represents a massive step forward for grid-scale stability, it still faces limitations regarding overall energy density and flammability. Modern energy demands are dense and relentless; as institutions like Oak Ridge National Laboratory recognize, training a single large AI model consumes hundreds of megawatt-hours of electricity. To meet these severe energy demands within the space constraints of modern data center footprints and utility substations, stationary storage must deliver more total capacity within a smaller physical footprint.  This strict market requirement was one of the drivers for Alsym Energy to develop our proprietary NFPP+ chemistry. By optimizing the structural framework and carefully tuning the cathode formulation, NFPP+ achieves significantly more energy density than standard NFPP models. This means developers can store more energy in fewer racks, directly reducing balance-of-system (BOS) costs and expensive site preparation requirements. Because NFPP+ leverages highly abundant materials, it maintainsthe supply chain advantages of sodium-ion while delivering superior performance metrics.  Just as important, NFPP+ guarantees a non-flammable system. While some standard NFPP configurations can still pose thermal risks depending on their volatile electrolyte pairings, Alsym’s Na-Series completely removes the risk of fire. This is a critical advantage as a growing number of local governments and communities enact strict moratoriums on lithium-ion storage projects, refusing to accept the severe fire and explosion risks associated with legacy chemistries. By removing the risk of thermal runaway, Alsym eliminates the need for active liquid cooling systems, HVAC and complex fire suppression infrastructure. NFPP+ dramatically lowers the total cost of ownership compared to legacy lithium-ion systems and earlier sodium-ion iterations.  What Natron’s Exit Tells Us  The stationary storage market recognizes the foundational contributions made at Natron. Their operational 600-megawatt-hour facility in Michigan forced the industry to look beyond lithium, proved that commercializing sodium-based cells was physically possible, and validated the immense market demand for alternative chemistries. Their work will remain a vital chapter in the history of battery technology.  Ultimately, a single company’s market exit is not a referendum on the viability of sodium-ion technology. As the broader industry continues to evolve, the path forward for stationary storage relies on deploying chemistry fundamentally optimized for grid demands. The needs of transient power applications differ vastly from those of multi-hour grid storage. Scaling to meet the world’s terawatt-hour storage needs requires a cathode built specifically for standard manufacturing lines, high volumetric density, and absolute safety.  By advancing from early architectures to optimize chemistries like NFPP+, the industry is establishing a practical path forward. The transition away from critical minerals remains a clear priority, and these next-generation sodium-ion solutions provide a steady, scalable foundation for the future of reliable stationary storage.   --- ## Peak Shaving on a Budget: How Sodium-Ion Batteries Slash CRE Energy Bills URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/peak-shaving-on-a-budget-how-sodium-ion-batteries-slash-cre-energy-bills/ Commercial real estate (CRE) operators are facing a sustained financial squeeze. As utility rates climb across the United States—driven by record-breaking utility rate increase requests totaling billions of dollars—managing operational building expenses has become increasingly difficult. A significant portion of electricity costs often stem not from total energy consumed, but from peak demand charges—fees levied by utilities based on the highest point of energy usage during a billing cycle.  Depending on the facility’s load profile, these demand charges routinely represent 30% or more of a commercial facility’s utility bill, and for properties with sudden, high-intensity power draws, they can account for as much as 70% of the total monthly cost. The established strategy to mitigate this expense is peak shaving: drawing power from an onsite energy storage system (ESS) during times of highest demand. Yet, many property owners have hesitated to deploy battery storage.  This hesitation is justified. Until recently, lithium-ion has been the default battery chemistry, bringing with it complex safety requirements, hidden compliance expenses, and potential insurance liabilities. As sodium-ion technology matures, CRE owners now have a viable, inherently safe alternative designed to deliver a highly predictable total cost of ownership for their energy management  The Heavy Burden of Demand Charges  Utility companies must maintain enough infrastructure to handle the absolute highest moments of energy demand on the grid. To fund this, they pass the cost on to commercial and industrial customers through peak demand charges.When a commercial facility experiences an acute surge in power demand—often driven by heavy HVAC loads and peak elevator utilization—the utility records this maximum consumption interval. The demand charge for that brief window is then applied to the entire month’s bill.  Peak shaving directly addresses this vulnerability. By discharging a battery during those high-demand intervals, a building can cap its power to draw from the grid, artificially lowering its perceived peak. The battery is then recharged overnight when electricity is cheaper.  While the mathematics of peak shaving are sound, the economics of implementing it rely entirely on the cost and feasibility of the energy storage system itself. While stationary batteries are increasingly recognized as a critical buffer for grid stability, if the capital expenditure and operational maintenance of the battery outweigh the savings from reduced demand charges, the project fails to deliver a return on investment  Why Lithium-Ion Complicates Energy Storage for Buildings  Lithium-ion batteries have dominated the energy storage conversation, but they present distinct challenges for commercial real estate. Siting a lithium-ion ESS inside a densely populated commercial building or an urban parking garage triggers complex zoning and safety hurdles due to the inherent risk of thermal runaway and fire.  To mitigate these risks, lithium-ion systems require active thermal management, such as liquid cooling, to keep the cells within a narrow, safe temperature range. Furthermore, strict fire codes govern indoor deployments. To comply with strict national fire standards for stationary energy storage systems, lithium-ion installations often mandate expensive fire suppression systems, substantial physical spacing between battery racks, and strict explosion-venting requirements.  Beyond the physical infrastructure, commercial property owners frequently face elevated insurance premiums when installing lithium-ion systems indoors. When you combine these premiums with the high costs of mandated safety infrastructure and the ongoing expense of powering and maintaining active thermal management systems over the battery’s lifetime, the total cost of ownership (TCO) for a lithium-ion ESS often places peak shaving out of reach for standard commercial properties  Sodium-Ion: A Safer Alternative for Property Owners  The most critical advantage for the CRE sector is safety. Sodium-ion chemistries can be engineered to be non-flammable, entirely removing the threat of thermal runaway. The thermal stability of these alternative chemistries allows them to operate safely without the need for active thermal management systems.  Sodium-ion battery systems can be installed safely in basements, utility closets, or attached garages without requiring significant structural modifications or triggering the insurance anxieties associated with traditional batteries. This ease of deployment allows property owners to focus entirely on the economic benefits of energy arbitrage and peak shaving.  Sodium-ion battery technology offers a pragmatic solution to the challenges of holding back energy storage for commercial buildings. Sodium is one of the most abundant elements on Earth, readily available and inexpensive to extract. By eliminating the need for constrained materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel, sodium-ion batteries benefit from a highly stable and lower-cost supply chain at scale.  Alsym Energy’s Na-Series for Commercial Real Estate  Alsym Energy has developed the Na-Series specifically for stationary energy storage applications, utilizing proprietary NFPP+ technology. This approach diverges from other sodium-ion architectures by prioritizing stability, safety, and a low total cost of ownership.  Alsym’s non-flammable Na-Series eliminates the risk of thermal runaway, removing the need for active thermal management systems. Eliminating liquid cooling components reduces upfront capital expenditure and removes parasitic energy loads, ensuring optimal system efficiency for peak demand reduction.  Alsym’s Na-Series provides commercial operators with a highly reliable energy asset. The system is designed to exceed 10,000 cycles, seamlessly absorbing daily load peaks while eliminating the burden of complex safety monitoring and hazardous material protocols. With industry data indicating that sodium-ion cells are nearing cost parity with lithium-ion and positioned to drop further, reducing both upfront capital expenditures and long-term operating expenses accelerates the return on investment for commercial energy storage projects.  Reclaiming Control of Utility Costs  With utility rate structures growing more aggressive, relying on passive energy management leaves commercial portfolios exposed to escalating demand charges. Lowering energy bills, however, should not require property owners to take on severe financial or safety risks.   The transition to sodium-ion technology allows commercial real estate operators to implement effective peak shaving strategies that are safe, reliable, and economically sound. By leveraging NFPP+ batteries—a structurally simpler and more cost-effective path to peak shaving—property owners can finally transform unpredictable grid liabilities into manageable, predictable operating expenses.  --- ## A Second Chance at Energy Independence URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/a-second-chance-at-energy-independence/ A decade ago, a U.S. startup A123 successfully commercialized lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry—a technology born in domestic national labs—but failed to build the manufacturing infrastructure required to scale it. As a result, the commercialization race was lost, and the U.S. now relies heavily on imported lithium-ion cells to power its own critical infrastructure. As of December 2025, 99% of LFP cathode components, 92% of anode components, 100% of LFP battery cells, and 77% of BESS system supply is controlled by China.  That reliance has created a severe vulnerability. The rapid expansion of AI data centers, widespread industrial electrification, and the need to firm up intermittent renewable energy sources are pushing the U.S. power grid to its absolute limits. Attempting to solve this localized stationary power crisis with a foreign-controlled battery supply chain is proving to be complex, costly, and a significant security risk.  But all is not lost. The emerging sodium-ion battery sector provides the U.S. with a vital second chance. Because the global sodium-ion industry is still scaling, developers and policymakers have a viable, albeit brief, window to establish a robust domestic manufacturing ecosystem from the ground up. By committing to alternative chemistries designed specifically for next-generation energy infrastructure, the U.S. can secure the grid, stabilize energy economics, and avoid repeating the strategic errors of the lithium-ion industry’s infancy.  An Outdated Grid Elevates the Urgency  The accelerating demand for alternative energy storage is rooted in the unprecedented power requirements of modern digital infrastructure. Modern AI training facilities and hyperscale data centers require hundreds of megawatts to operate, potentially placing massive, concentrated loads on regional transmission networks. Utilities are struggling to connect these facilities fast enough, leading to extended project timelines and grid instability. Recent projections from Goldman Sachs estimate that AI will drive a 165% increase in global data center power demand by 2030. Domestically, researchers forecast that U.S. data center consumption could reach up to 580 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2028—consuming up to 12% of the nation’s total electricity.  To bridge this gap, developers are increasingly relying on massive stationary energy storage systems to smooth out power delivery, manage peak loads, and provide uninterrupted backup power. However, sourcing these massive battery deployments entirely from the mature lithium-ion market presents significant economic challenges. Overseas manufacturers benefit from deeply integrated mineral processing networks, leaving the U.S. energy sector exposed to the price volatility and availability constraints of critical minerals.  For example, recent International Energy Agency (IEA) analysis highlights how sudden export controls on vital lithium-ion components—like LFP cathode materials—are threatening to severely restrict global battery production and drive up costs.Relying on these constrained international networks makes long-term project planning and budget forecasting highly unpredictable for utility planners and infrastructure developers.  A Closing Window for Supply Chain Independence  We are at a critical juncture in the energy transition. The sodium-ion industry is currently moving from early commercialization to massive industrial scale. If the U.S. hesitates to invest in domestic manufacturing capabilities now, overseas competitors will inevitably capture the sodium-ion market using the exact same playbook they used to dominate lithium-ion.  Losing the lithium-ion race meant losing control of the automotive supply chain. Losing the sodium-ion race would mean surrendering control of the very infrastructure required to power the next generation of the American economy. Attempting to catch up in a mature market is a highly capital-intensive endeavor. The U.S. must seize this moment to build processing facilities, manufacturing plants, and supply networks while the global playing field is still relatively level.  How Sodium-Ion Delivers What the Grid Needs  Sodium-ion batteries offer low material costs (at scale), high cycle life performance, very high efficiency, fast charging capability, a wide operating temperature range, and rely on widely available inputs that eliminate critical mineral exposure.This offers a clean slate to build an energy storage ecosystem tailored specifically to the needs of the grid.   Unlike lithium, sodium is globally abundant and can be sourced domestically from naturally occurring deposits or seawater. In fact, sodium is the sixth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust (comprising roughly 2.6% by weight), making it over 1,000 times more abundant than lithium.   Beyond raw element abundance, the fundamental chemistry of sodium-ion unlocks massive manufacturing and regulatory advantages. Unlike LFP batteries that require heavy, expensive copper foil for the anode, sodium-ion cells can use aluminum current collectors for both the anode and cathode—a material that is significantly lighter and roughly three to four times cheaper. The raw commodity economics are equally stark: even with market adjustments in 2026, the soda ash used to derive battery-grade sodium remains a fraction of the cost at historically stable rates of $300 to $400 per ton, compared to lithium carbonate which continues to command well over $10,000 per ton. Crucially for U.S. developers, utilizing a domestically sourceable chemistry provides an immediate “regulatory CapEx” advantage by entirely avoiding the steep 2026-era tariffs on Chinese LFP imports, sheltering critical infrastructure projects from the financial fallout of ongoing trade disputes.  This fundamentally breaks the reliance on constrained international mineral supply chains and entirely bypasses associated geopolitical bottlenecks. By establishing domestic sodium-ion manufacturing, the U.S. can build a secure, end-to-end supply chain characterized by predictable material costs and reliable availability for gigawatt-scale projects. This localized approach ensures that developers have a dependable pipeline of materials that are immune to overseas trade disruptions or critical mineral shortages.  Predictable Material Costs Drive Domestic Manufacturing  With material costs sufficiently stabilized, the sodium-ion energy storage market can take off domestically. While historical lithium pricing has proven highly erratic and vulnerable to international bottlenecks, the raw materials required for sodium-ion chemistries are abundant and deeply insulated from global trade shocks, ensuring a remarkably stable cost foundationfor OEMs and their customers.  The economic potential of this stability is striking. According to recent analysis by Morgan Stanley, as global supply chaincapacity expands, cost reductions for sodium-ion technology will accelerate rapidly. Once industry production capacity reaches the 100 GWh threshold, sodium-ion battery prices are projected to fall more than 30% lower than traditional lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. This steep cost curve makes sodium-ion an exceptionally attractive opportunity for the massive, capital-intensive deployments required to meet our modern energy storage needs.  Alsym Energy is leveraging this favorable economic trajectory and the supply chain stability of abundant materials to develop non-flammable sodium-ion batteries built specifically for stationary applications. Because these cells do not rely on constrained minerals and avoid the inherent thermal risks of legacy technologies, they are positioned to scale to the levels needed for our energy needs while avoiding being controlled by foreign countries. For facility operators, stable low materials costs and enhanced safety translates to predictable upfront procurement costs, simplified site permitting, and the elimination of expensive, active thermal management systems. The economic case for sodium-ion is clear: it provides a stable, scalable foundation for massive infrastructure deployment without the financial unpredictability of the lithium market.  Securing Our Energy Future  The transition to a highly electrified, data-driven economy requires an energy storage infrastructure that is scalable, economical, and domestically secure. The U.S. simply cannot afford to miss this technological wave. By investing in and deploying advanced sodium-ion solutions today, industry leaders can build a resilient grid while reclaiming a central role in advanced battery manufacturing.  Achieving true grid resilience and lasting energy independence means adopting technologies built for the vast present and future needs for battery energy storage.    --- ## 5 Real-World Examples of Industries Using BESS URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/5-real-world-examples-of-industries-using-bess/ The energy landscape is shifting rapidly. Driven by the explosive growth of AI data centers and electrification of transport, heating, industry and more, electricity demand is climbing sharply after two decades of virtually stagnant growth. In this environment, securing sufficient power for large-scale operators has become a massive operational bottleneck. Utility interconnection queues in major data centers average over four years—double what they were in the previous decade. To circumvent these delays, industrial facilities are increasingly exploring building on-site battery energy storage systems (BESS) or developing entire self-sufficient microgrids that consist of a diverse configuration of energy solutions. Beyond simply acting as a workaround for lengthy utility queues, BESS provides heavy industry with a powerful toolkit for financial and operational efficiency. Batteries can supply energy-intensive facilities during peak demand periods so they avoid using the grid during its most expensive hours. Batteries are also one of the few solutions that can provide dynamic load response where batteries act as an immediate, dynamic buffer against sudden fluctuations in power demand. To set the stage for what may become more common, this blog post demonstrates how batteries have been utilized to manage massive industrial loads, with five real-world examples from five heavy industries. 1. BESS for Powering Data Centers While data centers have not traditionally been classified as heavy industry, the rapid emergence of hyperscale data centers—with power demands rivaling industrial facilities—is beginning to blur that distinction. To serve hyperscalers like Meta, Amazon, and Google, server racks have grown eight to ten times more power dense than traditional models and depend on having power available 24 hours a day, every day of the year, to avoid serious disruptions to global data infrastructure. Data centers are reliant on diesel backup generators and other redundancies to prevent any interruptions to their operations, but that is set to change with pledges from tech giants to power their data centers with clean energy. For example, Google recently partnered with Energy Dome to deploy commercial-scale long-duration CO2 batteries. These systems provide scalable, carbon-free backup power, effectively replacing traditional diesel setups. Furthermore, utilities recognize the strain hyperscale facilities place on local infrastructure. Energy providers like Alliant Energy are building massive utility-scale BESS facilities—such as their 75 MW and 100 MW projects—specifically to stabilize the grid and ensure new data center developments receive reliable power. 2. Using BESS in Steel and Metal Manufacturing Steel manufacturing alone accounts for roughly 7% of human greenhouse gas emissions. That’s more emissions than either the European Union or Russia produce on an annual basis. In metals manufacturing, as in many other industrial sectors, the major appeal of BESS is its potential for lowering operational costs through peak shaving and load shifting to avoid peak demand charges from the utility. That is exactly what Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. sought to accomplish when they partnered with Powerflex in 2021 to install and operate a 1.6 MW / 5.5 MWh BESS in Oakland, California. Schnitzer’s Oakland facility processes and recycles ferrous and nonferrous metals, creating both “substantial and variable” demand for electricity. The BESS is configured to charge and discharge in a fashion that reduces the peak levels of consumption, thereby reducing overall peak power demand and cost. 3. Oil & Gas Rigs The oil and gas industry has taken a liking to battery energy storage systems for a couple of good reasons. When used in a hybrid format, batteries allow operators to reduce the run time of diesel engines and also keep them operating at a level where efficiency is maximized. This extends the life of generators, which usually aren’t designed to handle smaller loads. Further, battery-drawn energy is available immediately and this improves the dynamic operation of engines, which makes a big difference on off-shore rigs that have highly variable power demand. Incorporating batteries on rigs also offers a much smaller power plant footprint compared to traditional power schemes using gas turbines. Swedish lithium-ion battery provider Echandia deployed a hybrid system on a jackup drilling rig in the Middle East in 2023. According to the company, the hybridization of the rig will help eliminate peak loads that would otherwise require multiple generators to operate under off-design conditions. 4. Manufacturing of Cement & Concrete Cement & concrete is a tricky one because most of the emissions come from process rather than energy consumption – i.e. the feedstock materials that release embodied carbon during processing. While other low-carbon alternatives are poised to make the biggest dent in this industry, the potential of BESS in reducing operating costs and managing energy consumption is still very promising. Building materials group Holcim partnered with TotalEnergies in 2023 to deploy a solar PV and battery storage system at Holcim’s cement plant in Colorado. It is expected to cover around 40% of energy demand at the plant which produces 1.8 million tonnes of various grades of cement per year. Through the power purchase agreement (PPA) between the two, Holcim will receive roughly 71,000 MWh of power per year. A major function of the battery storage system is reducing the cement plant’s draw of power from the grid during peak demand periods. 5. BESS Usage in Mining & Other Forms of Extraction Because mining operations, like gas and oil extraction facilities, are often located in remote regions, BESS offers an attractive solution to provide these places clean, reliable power at stable prices. Mining is an incredibly energy-intensive process, with energy expenses often accounting for 40% of a mine’s total operating costs. Transporting diesel fuel to these far-flung locations simply adds immense logistical overhead. In Australia, mining giant BHP and energy provider TransAlta partnered to build a new solar farm in the Northern Goldfields. The project, comprised of two solar farms with 38.1 MW capacity and a 10.1 MW/5.4 MWh battery energy storage system, is stated to help BHP reduce scope 2 emissions at its Nickel West northern operations by 12 percent. The facility is one of the world’s largest off-grid mining solar and battery energy storage systems and features about 70,000 solar panels across 90 hectares of land. The initiative will replace power currently generated from diesel and gas. With New Solutions, The Future of BESS in Industry is Looking Bright The outlook for speed and efficiency in industrial applications by leveraging the power of BESS is encouraging, to say the least. The potential for BESS in energy-intensive use cases like industry is huge, but to unlock this opportunity particularly for the onslaught of new data centers, new types of non-lithium batteries are needed. Especially where there are elevated hazards, on oil & gas rigs or steel plants, for example, or exposure to the elements, the flammable nature of lithium-based batteries isn’t scalable. A battery that can withstand a wide operating temperature range, perform versatile functions, and that cannot go into thermal runaway changes the equation entirely, spurring adoption in industries that need to manage their energy consumption. To turn the tide in a meaningful way and transcend the limitations of lithium-ion, Alsym is bringing to market a new era of high-performance, non-flammable battery storage solutions. To learn more about what Alsym is doing to enable BESS adoption in demanding industrial applications, contact us today. --- ## Beyond Backup: How AI is Transforming Data Center Energy Storage URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/how-ai-is-transforming-data-center-energy-storage/ For decades, the battery functioned as a static asset within the data center ecosystem, utilized exclusively for passive backup. Legacy Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid (VRLA) batteries were deployed to do one thing: idle at full charge and wait for power failures. Their versatility beyond this was limited mainly by low performance; VRLA batteries possess low cycle lives (typically 200–500 cycles) and degrade rapidly under frequent discharge, making them unsuitable for a more active role. Two trends have emerged that are reshaping the dynamic. For one, the rapid acceleration of artificial intelligence workloads is pushing data center power demands into uncharted territory. AI server rack power density is quickly transitioning from a historical average of 6–10 kW to over 120 kW per rack and those racks need not only backup in outages but intense amounts of steady, quality power. For two, battery technology has made leaps and bounds: the last decade has seen new battery formulations, falling costs, and breakthroughs in performance. This is prompting operators to reimagine storage as the driving force of data center power strategy. The best way to understand this evolution is to look at the specific demands of an AI facility. Once we understand these key use cases, we can see exactly why the industry is moving toward different designs and better battery technologies The Divergence of the UPS Market: Optimization vs. Efficiency The traditional UPS system was sized to provide 10 to 15 minutes of runtime. This duration was necessary to give older diesel generators enough time to crank up, stabilize, and take over the load. This has changed as modern backup generators can now start and accept a full load in under 15 seconds. Maintaining 15 minutes of battery capacity for a facility that requires only a 60-second bridge is now becoming overkill. The fastest-growing segment is therefore the 1-minute UPS, designed to simply bridge the brief gap between a grid failure and the generator turning on. However, “right-sizing” to a 1-minute duration creates a technical barrier for standard lithium-ion batteries, often referred to as the “Power-Energy Mismatch” or “Death Valley.” Standard lithium-ion cells are typically designed to release their energy slowly over an hour or more. A 1-minute bridge, however, demands that the battery release its energy almost instantly. Attempting to pull this much power so quickly from a standard battery generates extreme heat and stress, which can lead to failure or fire risks. This creates a dilemma for UPS: operators must either oversize their lithium batteries by 4x–5x just to handle the sudden power surge or adopt high-performance chemistries that are capable of extreme discharge rates without overheating. Managing Volatility: The Battery as an Active Buffer Beyond backup, storage assets are assuming a new role as active infrastructure required to mitigate the volatility of AI workloads. Unlike traditional web-hosting loads, which remain relatively flat and predictable, AI training workloads are cyclical and highly volatile. A training job can demand the full capacity of a supercomputer instantaneously, creating power spikes ranging from 2% to 10% of a facility’s total capacity in sub-seconds. Utility grids generally lack the ramping capability to match this variability, risking regional frequency instability or voltage sags. To prevent brownouts and grid penalties, operators are deploying battery energy storage systems (BESS) as active buffers. In this peak shaving model, the battery draws power from the grid at a steady rate and discharges rapidly to meet the instantaneous demands of the GPU cluster. This effectively smooths the facility’s load profile from the utility’s perspective. This use case, however, introduces a high-cycling regime that is detrimental to traditional chemistries. Lithium-ion batteries degrade faster than anticipated under these deep, daily discharges, often requiring replacement within 7–10 years depending on depth of discharge (DoD). This drives demand for more durable solutions that can withstand high-frequency cycling without significant capacity fade. The Shift to “Grey Space”: Risk Mitigation and Asset Consolidation As power density rises, the physical siting of energy storage is shifting from the white space to the “grey space” or outdoor yards. The “white space” housing servers has become premium real estate. With server racks valued in the millions, the operational risk tolerance for fire is effectively zero. Introducing high-energy-density batteries with flammable electrolytes into the server hall presents an unacceptable risk profile for many operators and their insurers. Moving storage outdoors unlocks the generator replacement use case. Rather than relying on diesel generators, which face supply crunches, increasing regulatory scrutiny and permitting challenges, facilities can deploy utility-scale BESS for long-duration backup (4 to 8 hours). This consolidates the power chain, allowing a single medium-voltage system to function as both the short-term UPS and the long-duration backup. However, outdoor siting exposes batteries to ambient temperature extremes. Lithium-ion batteries generally require an operating range of 20°C–25°C to maintain safety and longevity. Maintaining this narrow band outdoors necessitates complex, energy-intensive HVAC systems, which reduces the system’s round-trip efficiency (RTE). Non-flammable chemistries that can maintain performance and safety across a wider temperature range without parasitic cooling loads have significant potential here. Primary Power: Circumventing Grid Constraints The most significant strategic evolution is the transition to primary power. This shift is a direct response to grid capacity limitations; utility interconnection queues in major data center hubs have extended significantly, with wait times now averaging over four years—double what they were in the previous decade. To maintain deployment velocity, operators are adopting “bring your own power” strategies, co-locating massive solar, wind, or thermal assets on-site. In this architecture, the battery serves as the primary power source, storing renewable energy during generation windows and powering the facility independently for 4 to 12 hours during non-generation periods. This application demands a technical profile distinct from the indoor UPS. Sited outdoors and cycled daily, these batteries must prioritize Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS), deep discharge capability, and intrinsic safety over simple power density. Unlike a UPS which may cycle once a month, these assets cycle daily, making cycle life and degradation curves the primary economic variables. Enabling the Active Data Center The shift from passive backup to active critical infrastructure represents a fundamental change in how data centers consume and manage energy. Whether mitigating grid volatility or establishing primary power, the new generation of use cases requires storage assets that are as dynamic as the workloads they support. Relying on legacy chemistries—whether the limited cycle life of VRLA (lead-acid) or the thermal risks associated with lithium-ion—will only introduce inefficiencies and safety constraints as power densities climb. To fully realize the potential of the active data center, the industry must adopt storage solutions that offer high power capability and intrinsic safety without the need for complex mitigation systems. This is where next-generation, non-flammable battery technologies, like those developed by Alsym Energy, play a pivotal role. By bridging the gap between performance and safety, these advanced chemistries allow operators to confidently decouple growth from grid constraints and secure a power strategy resilient enough for the demands of tomorrow. Interested in learning more how Alsym can provide a versatile energy storage solution for your data center? Get in touch today. --- ## Rethinking the Root Cause of BESS Fires URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/rethinking-the-root-cause-of-bess-fires/ Utilities and developers across the globe are deploying gigawatts of battery energy storage systems (BESS) to buffer an increasingly unstable grid from rising electricity demand and adoption of intermittent renewable energy. Of these batteries being deployed, 98% rely on lithium-ion—a chemistry that offers high energy density but introduces explosion and fire risk under specific failure conditions. To combat its volatility, the industry has responded with a string of new engineering controls such as thermal management and fire suppression infrastructure, which add cost and complexity to projects. Despite these controls, large-scale fire incidents are still happening. We’re at a critical juncture in our energy storage future where we must ask ourselves some hard questions. As we scale up, the critical issue won’t be how many sensors to install or how to make more sophisticated battery management systems. It will more fundamentally be whether you can engineer a truly safe system around a chemistry with the capacity to combust. Blaming the Pin, Ignoring the Grenade Battery manufacturers often argue that unprovoked combustion of lithium-ion cells is extremely rare. The data backs that up; these events occur at a rate of roughly 1 in 10–40 million cells. Instead, research has exposed that most major battery fires start with “balance of plant” (BOP) components—inverter faults, coolant pump seizures, or Battery Management System (BMS) errors. Looking at the bigger picture, incidents that start with something relatively mundane (a coolant leak) but escalate into multi-day emergencies reveal something more concerning. Recent incidents show the deeper pattern: Warwick, NY (June 2023 and again in December 2025): In two very similar events happening two years apart, moisture infiltrated a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) facility during a rainstorm, causing electrical shorts. Both fires burned for multiple days as fire crews were forced to wait for the chemical reactions to deescalate on their own. Moss Landing, CA (Sep. 2022): Rainwater entered through a dislodged umbrella valve at the Elkhorn battery facility, causing electrical arcing. Thermal runaway occurred in one BESS unit, requiring emergency response and temporary facility shutdown. Victoria, Australia (July 2021): A cooling system leak during commissioning caused a short circuit in an electronic component. The resulting thermal runaway spread to an adjacent compartment, consuming two Tesla Megapacks. Yes, these were failures that started with something else other than the battery. But attributing the damage from a massive thermal event to a BOP component is like saying a grenade explosion was caused by a pin malfunction, not the explosive inside. In these cases, the precipitating events were equipment malfunctions that occur routinely in any industrial system at some point during its 20-plus year system life. What transformed them into prolonged disasters was the combustibility of the lithium-ion chemistry and its failure pathway to thermal runaway. During thermal runaway, the cathode releases oxygen that fuels a self-sustaining reaction with the flammable electrolyte. Water can cool the battery’s exterior but cannot stop the internal chemical reaction, requiring massive volumes and sustained, multi-day application to prevent spread. LFP – Not a Silver Bullet The ESS industry is currently transitioning from high-nickel Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) to Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) because LFP has a higher ignition threshold – meaning it takes more heat to start irreversible chemical reactions. But as we saw twice in Warwick, New York, LFP is not a silver bullet, nor will it ever be. When moisture infiltration caused electrical shorts, the LFP-based facilities burned for days. While LFP may require greater thermal input to ignite, its post-ignition behavior mirrors other lithium-ion variants: an inability to suppress directly, the release of toxic off-gases, and extended duration fires. Intrinsic Safety Through Chemistry Effective risk mitigation requires shifting from a responsive strategy (i.e. adding more sensors and alarms) to intrinsic safety through chemistry replacement. This is where advanced sodium-ion chemistries, particularly those based on polyanionic sodium iron pyrophosphate (NFPP), represent a categorical departure from the status quo. Advanced NFPP sodium-ion, including NFPP+: Decouple Heat from Reaction: Lithium-ion thermal runaway releases oxygen from the cathode, fueling the fire internally. Advanced NFPP breaks this loop. Without oxygen generation, BOP failures cause a system shutdown rather than cascading combustion. Use Non-Flammable Electrolytes: Testing demonstrates that these cells do not exhibit thermal runaway even under nail penetration or external heating. Are Safe to Transport: Unlike lithium-ion batteries, which must retain a >30% charge during transport, sodium-ion variants can be discharged to zero volts, allowing them to be shipped as electrically inert equipment. Prioritizing Failure Resilience Lithium-ion cells rarely fail, but cooling systems and sensors inevitably will over a 20-year lifespan. The distinction for fire protection professionals is not between monitoring technologies—it’s between electrochemistries that combust when these systems fail versus those that don’t. By adopting advanced chemistries like NFPP+, the industry can move toward a standard where coolant leaks remain simple maintenance issues, rather than multi-agency emergencies. Thermal events may not originate with battery chemistry, but they can certainly end with them. It’s time to change the common denominator. --- ## $3 Trillion for AI Infrastructure. But Where’s the Power? URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/3-trillion-for-ai-infrastructure-but-wheres-the-power/ Traditional solutions to add capacity, such as building new power plants or upgrading the grid, would take years to complete. With rapid AI demand growth happening now, faster, more flexible power solutions are urgently needed. AI Is Scaling Faster Than the Grid According to Morgan Stanley, global data center capacity is expected to grow six times by 2030, requiring nearly $3 trillion in capital investment by 2028. Hyperscalers like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta are expected to fund half of that internally, with the other $1.5 trillion coming from private credit markets and securitized finance. Yet while headlines focus on GPUs, servers, and real estate, the most important question is often overlooked: where will the power needed to run everything come from? The amount of power needed for our AI aspirations is not trivial. Just to meet the U.S. demand for new datacenters, an additional 45 gigawatts (GW) of generation capacity will be needed – nearly 10% of current U.S. generation capacity. That is equivalent to building 23 Hoover Dams in just a few years. Yet of the projected $3 trillion in spending, almost none is allocated for power infrastructure. Assuming power infrastructure does get the attention it needs (we wouldn’t get very far if it doesn’t), which solutions can actually meet the demands of mega-scale data centers? Obvious Solutions Aren’t Enough Large-scale power plant projects can take years to design, permit, and build. In today’s highly regulated power system with gigawatts of generation assets waiting in interconnection queues, even modest additions face regulatory bottlenecks and supply chain delays. Some proposed alternatives, like shutting down crypto mining operations or collocating datacenters with nuclear plants, are either too small in scale or too slow to deploy. On-site generation from sources like natural gas or small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) can be faster to deploy than centralized, utility-scale projects, but they are often costly and face significant economic and logistical barriers. Natural gas turbines, for example, have order lead times up to seven years, and SMR projects have been canceled due to cost overruns. In terms of being relied on for near-term relief, their development timelines face too much uncertainty, not to mention often being politically or environmentally problematic as well. When You Need Speed Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are one of the few dispatchable solutions that can be deployed in months rather than years. They provide a flexible and modular way to store power during off-peak periods and discharge it during peak demand, helping to reduce strain on the grid and prevent outages. For data centers specifically, batteries can absorb excess supply from the grid or on-site generation when demand is low, then deliver steady, cost-controlled power when loads spike. Battery’s buffering capability can also shield data centers from power quality issues such as voltage sags, frequency fluctuations, or short interruptions that could cause server downtime or equipment damage. Batteries can even complement fossil-fuel power plants or other generators in hybrid systems by handling rapid demand fluctuations, which allows generators to run at peak efficiency and avoid damage associated with running at low loads. Batteries can also play a crucial role in data center uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems, ensuring that critical operations continue without interruption in the event of an all-out power outage. Of Emerging Battery Types, Sodium-ion Stands Out While lithium-ion has been the go-to battery for many use cases, it carries significant risks. It needs significant cooling to maintain stability and degrades with heavy use. Further, its reliability as a solution for global data centers is offset by the fact that its supply chain is controlled almost entirely by one country, meaning supply could be cut off at any time. Among the non-lithium battery technologies available to address the power problem, sodium-ion batteries stand out with reliability, cost-effectiveness, and some unique performance advantages suited to data centers’ needs. Sodium-ion batteries are much more tolerant of high temperatures, which in data centers with massive existing cooling loads, is a serious benefit.  The batteries also are built to endure many more cycles due to enhanced ionic conductivity and resistance to plating – phenomena that cause degradation in lithium-ion batteries. The use of an aluminum current collector in sodium-ion batteries also avoids damage from overcharge or discharge to zero percent. These are capabilities that would otherwise cause critical damage and/or combustion risk in lithium-ion batteries. These distinctions position sodium-ion as a more reliable solution that brings the benefits of batteries without the drawbacks. However, like their lithium-ion counterparts, there are a range of sodium-ion battery chemistry types, and not all of them tout safety, supply chain, or performance advantages. For instance, some sodium-ion battery types are safer than their lithium-ion counterparts but can still go into thermal runaway when exposed to high heat. Other types rely on cyanide or vanadium compounds which present their own toxicity challenges. But within sodium-ion is a nexus of safety, performance, and supply chain that simply isn’t possible with lithium. Alsym’s Na-Series At Alsym Energy, we are building a new generation of sodium-ion batteries, ones specifically designed to be non-flammable, high-performance, and built with globally abundant materials. The Alsym Na-Series is designed to meet the urgent power needs of datacenters, utilities, and commercial and industrial customers. Inside the Na-Series is our NFPP+ technology that combines safety, performance, and affordability, making it a key enabler of AI infrastructure without waiting years for new power plants or grid upgrades. If the AI industry wants to avoid becoming the next tech bubble, battery solutions like Alsym’s Na-Series can keep AI running safely, reliably, and sustainably, while the rest of the energy system catches up.     --- ## NFPP: The Right Chemistry for the Grid’s New Normal URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/nfpp-the-right-chemistry-for-the-grids-new-normal/ The challenges we foresaw for the future power grid have arrived sooner than expected. Cities are electrifying at record pace. Data center infrastructure is in the megawatt-scale and projected to reach gigawatt-scale by 2028. Electric heat pumps are replacing oil and gas systems. EV sales are growing 5x faster than gas cars. At the same time, record heat waves, winter storms, and other climate extremes are undermining grid reliability. According to a report from Climate Central released last year, there have been 60 percent more heat-related power outages between 2014-2023 than in the 10 years prior. Energy infrastructure is being pulled in two directions: toward greater demand, and into tougher conditions. The combination is a major problem. As these pressing challenges take hold, experts are increasingly pointing to battery energy storage systems (BESS) for their ability to relieve pressure on the grid. Battery storage enables greater flexibility in how and where energy is used—supporting distributed generation, deferring costly infrastructure upgrades, and improving system reliability. While lithium-ion batteries dominate the storage market, they are facing safety, supply chain, and even cost limitations that restrict widespread deployment. In contrast, sodium-ion batteries have emerged as a promising alternative, offering improved safety, high performance, and scalability to help answer the grid��s most urgent challenges. More is Being Demanded of Batteries In the first half of 2025 alone, utilities requested or secured more than $29 billion in rate increases, nearly doubling the same period in 2024. These hikes stem from a combination of infrastructure limitations, capacity shortfalls, and heightened demand during extreme heat. To cool rising rates, more batteries are needed in front-of and behind-the-meter to ease transmission stress and manage off-peak energy closer to where it’s consumed. If they don’t accelerate battery deployment, utilities will remain trapped in a cycle of patching deteriorating infrastructure and constructing oversized facilities—committing to multi-year projects that further drive up costs. To compound the problem, assets supporting the grid must now operate without incident through increasingly turbulent weather patterns. Patterns that our energy system wasn’t originally planned for – drought, deep freezes, hurricanes, and heatwaves – now frequently  push infrastructure to its limits. From the unusual heat in the Pacific Northwest to cold snaps in Texas, extreme weather events are a persisting trend that warrant a strategic response with respect to infrastructure. The Status Quo is Not Enough We know how energy storage can relieve system stress and support resiliency in the face of grid turmoil – the question is how can we get more storage connected, faster, and with fewer barriers to tap its full potential. Lithium-ion batteries, which make up 99% of new storage installations, have blazed the trail for batteries managing energy at scale. But they also carry limitations that call into question their ability to support the grid’s new normal. These batteries use flammable and toxic materials, raising safety concerns that slow down permitting and installation. Furthermore, lithium-ion batteries require tightly controlled environmental conditions to operate at peak performance and avoid failure; these make layers of cooling, ventilation, containment, and control a requirement at the system level —adding cost, complexity, and operational risk. But even with these safeguards in place, failures caused by weather, system defects, and heavy use still occur. Additionally, lithium-ion’s supply chain is concentrated to just a few countries, leaving grid reliability—and national resiliency—dependent on external sources. Together, these factors limit how quickly and widely we can connect new storage to the grid, at a time when flexibility, speed, and resilience are more important than ever. Sodium-Ion: Built to Weather the Storm Sodium-ion batteries can offer an answer to both lithium-ion’s shortcomings and the pressures mounting on the modern grid. It’s a technology that can endure harsher conditions, be sited with minimal extra packaging, and can scale to much greater heights due to a low-risk supply chain. Sodium-ion offers thermal stability and environmental tolerance that enables a much wider operating temperature range. Thermal robustness allows better siting and permitting flexibility, and reduces the need for extensive fire suppression, complex cooling infrastructure, or emergency response planning if things go wrong. When storage can be deployed with fewer system add-ons and less required intervention over time, resiliency goes up and total cost of ownership comes down – saving operators money while maximizing value and revenue. It’s worth mentioning that like lithium-ion batteries, there are multiple formulations of sodium-ion, and not all offer the capabilities needed for next-gen energy storage. Some sodium-based chemistries like NFM use flammable electrolytes to offer higher energy density at the cost of safety. Others including Prussian white offer an incremental improvement in performance but can generate highly toxic hydrogen cyanide gas if subject to abuse. Yet new formulations of sodium-ion batteries made from sodium compounds, iron, and hard carbon — such as sodium iron pyrophosphate or “NFPP” — use materials that are safe, sustainable, and widely available through salt deposits and biomass. The next-generation of tech in this category is completely eliminating the possibility of thermal runaway. While hazard-proofing has proved a challenge for lithium-ion, the story for sodium-ion is unfolding much differently. Meeting the Moment—Safely and at Scale Meeting the challenge at hand requires more than just an alternative chemistry—it requires a battery purpose-built for the grid’s new reality.  Sodium-ion – specifically NFPP – can be designed for scale, environmental durability, safety, and sustainability. That’s the kind of storage the grid needs now, and the kind we’re working on at Alsym Energy. --- ## Introducing Flexible-Duration Storage: One System Many Roles URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/introducing-flexible-duration-storage/ As the energy landscape grows more dynamic and decentralized, the expectations for energy storage systems have evolved. Utilities, grid operators, and facilities managers are no longer just looking for solutions that check a box — they’re looking for systems that are strategic assets, capable of adapting to multiple roles as needs change. One of the core challenges of today’s installed batteries is that most storage technologies are constrained by their duration profile. Traditional systems have either been optimized for short, daily cycling or infrequent long-duration backup — rarely both. The result is a fragmented storage landscape: one where each solution is siloed into a narrow set of functions, leaving gaps in resilience, economic efficiency, and operational flexibility as grid composition and market dynamics shift. For the energy storage industry to meet its potential, we need a solution to this fragmentation. Enter flexible-duration storage. The Tradeoffs of Current Storage Paradigms Short-duration systems — most commonly lithium-ion-based — are commercially mature and highly efficient for applications like daily peak shaving, frequency regulation, and short-term arbitrage. However, their effectiveness is constrained by depth-of-discharge limitations and balance-of-plant requirements that cap duration around 8 hours. In the face of prolonged grid outages or multi-day renewable generation lulls, these systems lack the staying power needed for true reliability. At the other end of the spectrum, long-duration energy storage (LDES) solutions are engineered to provide 8, 10, 24 hours or more of discharge — making them essential for ensuring resilience during extended disruptions. Yet, they are often capital-intensive, infrequently dispatched, and difficult to monetize consistently outside of rare events or specialized market programs. Sitting between these extremes are medium-duration technologies like vanadium flow, nickel-hydrogen, and zinc-bromide batteries. These can deliver energy over 4–20 hours, addressing interday energy shifting needs. However, they face two major challenges: First, they typically suffer from high self-discharge and other system limitations that prevent them from reliably extending into true long-duration use cases. Second, they tend to be more expensive than lithium-ion on a per-kWh basis, making it difficult for them to carve out their place in short-duration applications. Bridging the Gap with Wide-Duration Flexibility Flexible, wide-duration energy storage systems represent a new category — engineered to deliver value across a range of use cases and timeframes. They offer utilities the ability to deploy one system that can serve both short-duration daily cycling, medium-duration interday storage, and long-duration backup, without sacrificing performance or ROI. The flexible-duration approach to energy storage unlocks several key benefits: Improved Asset Utilization: Instead of sitting idle until a rare long-duration event, flexible systems can participate in day-ahead markets, frequency response, or peak shaving — then seamlessly shift to multi-hour or multi-day backup when needed. Greater Economic Returns: By monetizing daily services and being available for contingency events, the asset’s revenue “value stack” broadens considerably, enhancing payback and long-term value. Future-Proofing: As market rules evolve and duration requirements shift, these systems adapt — minimizing stranded asset risk. Designed for a Grid in Transition Markets are fluid. Regulatory frameworks change. The value of different storage durations will fluctuate over the next decade depending on policy, renewables penetration, and capacity planning. Systems that can operate across the spectrum — 2 hours one day, 10 hours the next — position utilities to stay ahead of change. Whether the need is short-term ramping or long-term reliability, the point is consistent operation across use cases to maximize value. Flexible, wide-duration energy storage isn’t just an incremental improvement — it’s a redefinition of what storage can be. By delivering cost-effective, scalable solutions that operate across durations and applications, these systems become central to grid modernization strategies. At Alsym Energy, we’re building this vision. Our innovative non-lithium, non-flammable battery solution is designed specifically to serve the flexible-duration segment. Safe, sustainable, and manufacturable at scale, Alsym technology offers the adaptability and economics utilities need to meet today’s challenges — and tomorrow’s uncertainties.     --- ## The Missing Link to Urban Grid Resilience URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/the-missing-link-to-urban-grid-resilience/ The Grid is Strained – And the Stakes Are Rising U.S. energy infrastructure has not had an easy last couple of years. Aging fossil fuel power plants have retired faster than new, more efficient ones can be deployed in their place. Outdated transmission lines continue to cause outages and struggle to handle the influx of load growth after two decades of very little change. Data centers, consuming as much energy as entire cities, are demanding rapid upgrades with high costs shared among everyone. Meanwhile, hurricanes in places like North Carolina and wildfires in California have devastated energy infrastructure, leaving vulnerable communities now weighing their options on how to rebuild. At first glance, the road to a highly durable grid appears daunting, filled with logistical and financial challenges. But a closer look reveals that opportunity lies within this crisis: the chance to build a cleaner, more reliable, resilient, and affordable energy system. With the right technologies deployed in the right places, it is very possible to overcome current grid constraints and accelerate the transition to a lower-cost, energy resilient future for all. Energy Storage Is the Missing Link Distributed renewable energy sources have proven they’re up for the task of generating gigawatts of electricity, but the last few years have taught us they can’t do it all on their own. Parts of the U.S., like California, currently produce so much electricity during peak production periods that prices can go into negative territory. But, as peak production fades and customers need energy, expensive peaker plants have to be fired up causing price spikes. This same pattern of electricity price volatility is being felt around the world by countries with high renewables penetration, such as Australia and Germany. Fortunately, we’ve identified the missing link to flattening out this problem: energy storage. Energy storage can cost-effectively store excess electricity and dispatch it when needed. Without it, we would always be beholden to on-demand solutions that fill in the gaps at significantly higher costs. This is especially problematic in urban areas, where the hurdles of building out new transmission infrastructure has caused deep reliance on peaker plants. Not only is energy storage uniquely capable of balancing supply and demand—it’s also a critical transmission asset. Strategically placed storage can alleviate congestion, defer costly upgrades, and enhance grid efficiency. As renewable energy becomes the more cost-effective option, storage’s role in strengthening a decentralized, resilient grid will become more pronounced, reducing the need for expensive transmission expansion and allowing consumers to access renewable electricity generated many miles away. Distributed energy resources including energy storage can also be deployed with a speed that far outpaces new centralized power plant approaches such as hydrogen-fired power plants, compressed air energy storage (CAES), and small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). The regulatory hurdles, physical space requirements, and extensive non-energy infrastructure needed for these alternatives create significant barriers to rapid scaling. To Power the Cities of Tomorrow, We Need Safer Storage Today Taking full advantage of energy storage comes with challenges, however, particularly in urban areas due to its densely populated areas and buildings. Fire risks of the mainstream storage option today, lithium-ion, have prompted permitting restrictions and moratoriums in California, Massachusetts, and New York’s Staten Island. With regulatory hurdles challenging the pace of deployment, cities need an alternative. Inherently non-flammable battery technologies eliminate fire hazards, bypassing permitting costs and barriers. What was previously unthinkable – siting battery units feet away from buildings and humans – is now possible by innovating out of flammability while maintaining the benefits. At a time when people are acutely aware of the risks of having lithium-ion batteries near them, non-flammable battery storage technology can eliminate ongoing concerns. This isn’t a challenge of the future – New York’s Local Law 97 requires building owners over a certain sq. footage to reduce energy intensity starting in 2025, and there are no other solutions of appropriate size and flexibility than energy storage to achieve this. But pairing urban solar with non-flammable storage isn’t just to gain compliance, it increases self-sufficiency, lowers costs, and eases pressure on strained transmission infrastructure, passing on resiliency and reduced costs to everyone. If we’re serious about rebuilding to meet the energy needs of tomorrow, let’s rebuild right. Achieving a resilient energy grid has a plethora of benefits outside the energy system itself, such as mitigating lost economic opportunity to outages and enhancing energy independence. Utilities, policymakers, and industry leaders must accelerate this transition through incentives, pilot projects, and regulatory updates favoring non-flammable storage. Integrating these technologies into federal and state infrastructure programs will expand access to next-generation energy storage. To build a stronger, more stable grid for all, cities and communities must embrace inherently safe next-generation batteries. The path forward is clear—the time to act is now. --- ## Amid adversity, safety is a path forward for the battery industry URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/amid-adversity-safety-is-a-path-forward-for-the-battery-industry/ Last month on January 16, a significant fire erupted at the Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in California, one of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery storage sites. The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office issued an evacuation order to approximately 1,500 residents in Moss Landing and the Elkhorn Slough area due to potential exposure to toxic smoke. The fire continued to rage and smolder through the night into the morning, and due to the challenges in extinguishing a fire of this type and size, firefighters were forced to allow the fire to burn out on its own. An investigation will commence to unveil the root cause of the incident. The response thus far has been sobering. The New York Times featured displaced residents voicing fears about long-term health impacts. Officials are under scrutiny, with Monterey County’s Supervisor describing the fire as a “Three Mile Island event for this industry,” a reference to a 1979 nuclear power plant meltdown in Pennsylvania that cost the nuclear industry public support. This is not the first lithium battery fire, but it is the largest and most consequential to date. The incident raises urgent questions: Can batteries be relied upon to support surging power demand from data centers and EVs? What happens if we scale to 10 million distributed energy installations without first solving safety risks? What do we – i.e. the battery industry – do now? Some outside the industry are arguing it’s time to pull the plug on lithium battery storage altogether, emphasizing the risks outweigh the benefits. Others insist this fire was an outlier, pointing to major safety advancements since Moss Landing’s system was commissioned in 2020. Both perspectives on the issue matter. What must be avoided, however, is dismissing public concerns while incidents keep happening, as this can erode trust even further. Critical at this moment is ensuring this debate doesn’t devolve into an all-or-nothing shouting match that stalls progress entirely. Rather, an event like this should serve as a pivotal moment—not as a reason to retreat from battery storage, but as an opportunity to accelerate innovation and reinforce public trust. The energy transition depends on safe, reliable storage solutions, and while lithium-ion technology has enabled incredible progress to balance an aging electric grid, we must continuously evolve to meet new challenges. That’s why the battery sector must lead the charge in addressing safety—not just react to disasters.  If you look at recent headlines in the battery space, the focus is around reaching new heights of energy density or breaking records for the size of new installations. While these advancements are certainly important for the industry, there is relatively less emphasis on the evolving landscape of safety risks. If the Moss Landing fire does not reshuffle the industry’s priorities to center safety in achieving long-term market success, then it’s unclear what ever would. Battery storage cannot fulfill its promise without trust, and trust is built on proven safety. The Moss Landing fire underscores the need for a shift: rigorous testing, failure scenario preparedness, a plan beyond “let it burn,” and perhaps moving beyond lithium-ion altogether. Safety cannot be minimized if battery storage is to remain a pillar of electrification. The industry must meet this moment with transparency, innovation, and an uncompromising commitment to safety. At Alsym, we believe the future of battery storage must be built on a foundation of safety, and that is why we have pioneered an energy storage solution that is high-performance yet cannot burn. Through non-flammable, high-performance battery solutions that can power the grid without safety risks, Alsym aims to make energy storage accessible and reliable for all. Contact us to learn more about Alsym Energy’s American-made, high-performance and non-flammable/non-toxic batteries. --- ## A Look at the NFPA’s Proposed Battery Safety Code URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/a-look-at-the-nfpas-proposed-battery-safety-code/ The world increasingly relies on rechargeable batteries for its vast and growing energy needs. Batteries power everything from personal electronic devices to vehicles to industrial equipment, and in recent years, they have demonstrated the value they can bring the grid by storing and managing intermittent renewable energy. Safety is on everyone’s mind, especially when it comes to BESS. A recent Department of Energy funding opportunity announcement noted “battery safety incidents may influence perception of safety of other energy storage systems and limit siting opportunities.” If safety concerns are not addressed directly and credibly, local opposition may increase as new projects are proposed for sites closer to residential and commercial areas. The market is so new that it could only take one high profile incident to negatively affect the way the public thinks about BESS, potentially derailing planned projects and setting back progress to net-zero climate goals. The rate of adoption is accelerating so quickly that demand for large-scale batteries is expected to grow nearly ninefold between 2023 and 2030. Despite these batteries being all over the place, there has not been a comprehensive approach to safety codes and standards, which is concerning considering when one considers the inherent flammability of lithium-ion batteries (the most common type of rechargeable battery). The National Fire Prevention Agency (NFPA) is looking to change this with its proposed national standards for battery safety. Tentatively titled NFPA 800 (the Battery Safety Code), this proposed standard would create a comprehensive set of safety requirements for batteries throughout their entire lifecycle. The code would address everything from how materials are sourced, or otherwise acquired, to how these industrial batteries can be safely disposed of. Let’s take a quick look at where this standard came from and what it may include: Background and Current State of Battery Safety Because there is no single, comprehensive set of standards for battery safety, the battery industry has thus far relied on NFPA 855, Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems, to provide overarching safety guidelines. NFPA 855 was developed with the intent to mitigate risk and ensure that all battery storage installations are done in a way that takes fire and life safety into consideration. But over time NFPA 855 has become the de-facto standard for general battery safety issues. This has resulted in scope expansion beyond NFPA 855’s original intention, as its standards are now applied to EV batteries and other uses that are not part of stationary energy storage systems. The need for a general battery safety code ultimately comes down to concerns stemming from lithium-ion battery technology. Fires from batteries with conventional lithium-ion construction can start from physical damage, overcharging or improperly charging, exposure to extreme temperatures, or manufacturing defects. As many as 150,000 incidents have occurred in the past decade, and this number continues to rise as the number of Li-ion battery-powered devices in operation increases. Clearly, relying on NFPA 855 and an intertwined network of other safety regulations is not sufficient to curb such fundamental fire danger. While the widespread adoption of battery technology has the potential to dramatically reduce fossil fuel dependency and mitigate adverse impacts worldwide, there is a glaring need for better, more comprehensive safety standards. What to Expect from NFPA 800 The specifics of NFPA 800 are still up for discussion, but you can expect the code to provide uniform requirements for the safe construction, operation, and disposal of batteries. This will include standards for preventing fires, explosions, and other operational hazards. The NFPA has stated that it will look for gaps in the current system of standards and create guidelines to mitigate the dangers created by these gaps. NFPA 800 will set standards across the entire lifecycle of a battery, which include: Battery Manufacturing: Ensuring that batteries are produced in accordance with stringent safety standards is crucial to minimizing the risk of defects that could lead to fires or explosions. NFPA 800 will likely create guidelines for quality control, testing, and the certification of battery manufacturing processes. Battery Storage: Proper storage of lithium batteries helps to prevent accidents, particularly in industrial and commercial settings that may be collocating large quantities of batteries. You can expect NFPA 800 to address storage solutions including temperature control, ventilation, and fire suppression systems. Transport of Batteries: The transportation of batteries, especially those containing hazardous materials, poses significant safety challenges. NFPA 800 will likely provide guidelines for the safe handling and transport of batteries, including packaging requirements, warning labels, and more. Product Manufacturing: NFPA 800 standards may apply to products with integrated batteries, like many portable electronic devices. Expect to see standards related to design, testing, and safety certifications for products with built-in batteries. Installation, Use, and Maintenance (including infrastructure): Safe installation and use of batteries are critical to preventing accidents. Regular maintenance may also be required to ensure that a battery system remains safe throughout its operational life. The new NFPA code is expected to include robust guidelines for all of this. Worker Safety: The NFPA will seek to protect workers who handle, assemble, or maintain batteries. You can expect safety protocols, such as using personal protective equipment (PPE), and training on safe handling of batteries. Emergency Response: Li-ion battery fires present unique hazards and challenges. The fires produce toxic gases and carry risks of explosion or electrocution. They also burn at extremely high temperatures and are prone to reigniting hours, days or weeks later, as the battery’s chemical components can’t be “starved out” like other fires. Because of this, NFPA safety regulations will likely include guidelines for both preventing and responding to emergency situations. For example, they could require battery-dependent facilities to display specific warning labels and have fire extinguishers and other safety equipment on site. Second Use, Battery End of Life, Disposal, or Recycling: Batteries must be properly disposed of (or recycled safely) to prevent environmental contamination and reduce the risk of accidents. NFPA 800 should describe standards for the safe disposal and recycling of batteries, including guidelines for the handling of hazardous materials. The Future of Battery Safety There are other steps the NFPA could take in addition to the ones proposed. When developing new safety standards for BESS projects, it might be prudent to establish a set of criteria specific to individual use cases (or sets of use cases) rather than focusing on individual battery technologies. This could help AHJs take a technology-agnostic approach to evaluating proposed BESS projects, as well as provide flexibility for new battery options as they come to market. As an example, guidelines for BESS projects in urban areas may stipulate that a battery system experiencing a thermal event (including a fire) cannot produce toxic gases that endanger local residents, and that a fire cannot propagate to other BESS units. In contrast, guidelines for BESS projects in rural areas may be less strict when it comes to fire issues, and only require that they be sited a minimum distance from residential and commercial areas. This kind of approach would help to simplify permitting and enforcement in situations where a project owner opts for a technology with a high safety profile, and potentially make it possible for AHJs to allow future BESS installations in areas where they are disallowed today. As the first official set of comprehensive guidelines, NFPA 800 marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of battery safety standards, but it also underscores the inherent dangers of certain battery technologies that warrant such standards in the first place. Regardless, having a uniform safety code will significantly reduce the associated risks while supporting the industry’s continued growth, which is a benefit for all. We expect NFPA 800 to be a comprehensive, forward-looking code that addresses every stage of a battery’s lifecycle, from production to disposal. It will serve as a vital framework to reduce the number and frequency of lithium-ion battery fires in an overarching effort to make the energy transition as safe as it is transformative. --- ## Data without diesel: ESS opportunities in data centers URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/data-without-diesel-ess-opportunities-in-data-centers/ Data centers are the backbone of innovation and growth in our increasingly digital world, from cloud computing to the internet of things to expansion of generative AI. In just the past few years the data center industry has boomed, and demand for services and infrastructure bolstering the digital world have grown immensely. In 2023, US data-center space expanded by a remarkable 26%, according to real-estate firm CBRE, with a record amount under construction. As data centers grow in number and size, so are their energy requirements. The Wall Street Journal reports that the higher density of newer, more powerful computer chips and servers will require about twice as much power per square foot in a data center as a decade ago. Furthermore, the rapid expansion of data centers with high power requirements is expected to increase energy demand up to 3.8 percent per year through 2050, a substantial increase after relatively flat energy demand growth across all sectors over the last decade. The need for stable, always-available energy supply is another challenge facing data centers. Today the industry relies on the central grid for primary power, and an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) plus diesel generator for backup power in the event of an outage. As renewable energy systems proliferate, the more cost-effective, sustainable, and versatile alternative to diesel gensets is a battery energy storage system (BESS), which are positioned to change the way data centers are powered. The Cost of Maintaining Power In the data center and IT management industry, 99.99% uptime is considered the standard guarantee for service level agreements (SLAs). This means the data center providers will take maximum 8 hours of downtime yearly, and providers risk a reputational and financial hit for anything more. According to the Uptime Institute’s 2023 Outage Analysis, 70 percent of data center outage incidents cost $100,000 or more, with 25 percent costing more than $1 million. In most scenarios, a UPS and a diesel generator work together to provide electricity in a contingency such as power failure. When an outage occurs the UPS switches critical infrastructure to battery power within milliseconds, covering the short delay until the diesel generator starts up. The generator then provides power so long as fuel is available or until the main power supply comes back on. Large diesel-powered generators now cost as much as $1.5 million each, with waits to get them from manufacturers stretching as long as two years. On top of their high installation costs, diesel generators also have high operational requirements. Most backup systems only turn on once or twice a year and run for a few minutes at most before a data center’s main power supply is restored. Yet these generators require around-the-clock care. Fuel system maintenance includes regular fuel quality testing, treatment, and cleaning of fuel tanks and lines to ensure the generator receives clean and reliable fuel. With generators, data centers rack up high maintenance costs to avoid unplanned downtime and significant repair costs. Flat-footed in a Rapidly Evolving Industry Even if data center operators can arrange an ideal backup generator scenario, diesel generator adoption has other implications. Diesel generators commit data center owners to another twenty years of fossil fuel dependency, and their usage by data centers runs counter to US and EU climate goals. Further, due to their non-modular nature, backup diesel generators could limit the expansion of data center operations as needs evolve over time. Governments are already taking action to restrict the use of generators at data centers. To achieve the Biden administration’s goal of 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035, several states now require data centers and other large corporations to disclose and limit their carbon emissions. Major corporations like Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, etc. are committed to powering their data center operations with renewable energy to advance initiatives like reducing Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions. Their commitment is reflected by the technology sector’s huge share of renewable energy consumption. Image source: American Clean Power; Clean Energy Powers American Businesses (2022) Two Birds with One BESS To move beyond diesel generators, battery energy storage systems (BESS) offer a new solution for improving power management and reliability in data centers. Unlike the one-phase, one-function use of diesel generators, a BESS can constantly add value and perform multiple roles including UPS, backup power, load shifting, peak shaving. Incorporating battery energy storage systems in new data centers not only enhances operational reliability and efficiency but also supports sustainability goals and offers potential economic benefits. Newer types of battery technologies offering wide-duration discharge can be the UPS providing near-instant power response in the event of an outage, and then go on to perform the backup power role that a diesel generator would otherwise fill. Through load shifting, a BESS allows data centers to store energy during off-peak hours when electricity rates are lower and renewable energy output is highest. It can then be used during peak hours to reduce operational costs. It also helps in managing demand charges, which are fees based on the highest amount of power drawn during a billing period. Centers are now beginning to optimize energy usage by setting up microgrids consisting of renewables plus energy storage, allowing them to tap into stored power during peak demand periods and seamlessly transition between grid and off-grid modes as needed. Additionally, to execute on renewable energy commitments of the technology industry, data centers need a mechanism to maintain power quality for their infrastructure. Spotty power supply poses substantial risks to data centers, both with respect to outages and damaging equipment. Battery storage can act as a buffer to renewable energy supply, absorbing and discharging smoother, steady power for data center operations. Overall, as an alternative to a UPS paired with a diesel generator, a well-designed BESS can provide a range of energy-saving functions in addition to ensuring seamless backup power in the event of a power outage. Not all BESS are made the same While it may be true that lithium-ion BESS are already being used in data centers, systems equipped with this type of battery technology present considerable safety challenges, as well as a cycle life that will be shortened with regular use. Systems equipped with lithium-ion batteries have demonstrated that they can go offline or go into a thermal runaway event due to heat, power surges, heavy rain, and other external forces. In addition to putting people at risk, a battery fire has the potential to damage or destroy hundreds of millions of dollars worth of advanced servers and specialized chips—not to mention potentially priceless data. New battery technologies are designed with safety and sustainability in mind, helping data centers stay online and compliant with local regulations as they expand. They’re also foregoing the toxic and flammable components used in lithium-ion batteries to use new materials that can offer high performance, long cycle life, and inherent resistance to thermal runaway. To support the expanding needs for reliable power, we need advanced technologies to replace the expensive, polluting diesel generators currently used in data centers. BESS is a more cost-effective, scalable, and safe solution that provides seamless, reliable power as well as a host of other energy management functions. Contact Alsym to learn more about BESS opportunities for data centers. --- ## What’s up with all these landfill battery fires? URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/whats-up-with-all-these-landfill-battery-fires/ We know about lithium-ion batteries and their flammability risks. Over the last two years we’ve seen incidents including electric vehicles spontaneously combusting to energy storage systems burning for days on end. But here at Alsym we’ve been noticing another particular situation where lithium-ion batteries are causing problems: landfills. It seems every other day we’re hearing about a lithium-ion battery that started a fire in a landfill, waste processing plant, or a bin lorry. So what gives? Lithium-metal primary batteries are in everything from light-up shoes to birthday cards nowadays, and lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are found in millions of low cost (and often low quality) consumer electronics. It’s not surprising that these things eventually get tossed out in the trash, especially considering there are few good options for disposal of devices with built-in batteries. At certain times of the year, like after Christmas for example, the number of lithium-ion batteries in the waste system is especially high because everyone’s old battery-powered devices get thrown out with regular household waste. Lithium-ion batteries are inherently flammable but don’t normally go into thermal runaway and combust unless they’re damaged or exposed to high heat. Unfortunately, a li-ion battery may very well undergo all three of those external forces in the waste system. The waste management process is highly mechanized and includes machines that crush and consolidate waste, all inhospitable to li-ion batteries which can be damaged easily. When damaged, batteries can start fires by igniting the surrounding trash and recyclables. For the lithium-ion batteries that make it all the way through the waste process, landfills are often the final destination. The EPA reports in their 2021 battery fire analysis that landfills have a few unique characteristics that lead to an increased risk of battery fires. When trucks or compaction equipment drive through active landfill cells, batteries may be crushed under their wheels and ignite the surrounding waste. Batteries may also be exposed to direct sunlight before the landfill cover is applied, which can elevate internal temperatures to where a fire can be ignited. As garbage decomposes in landfills, temperatures in piles can rise to 250°F, a sufficient flashpoint to begin evaporating electrolyte and trigger thermal runaway in lithium batteries, which can start—you guessed it—a fire. It’s also worth mentioning that awareness of the hazard has reached a point where tracking of fires stemming from lithium-ion batteries is becoming more standardized – increasing the amount of battery fires we’re hearing about. Before battery fires were not categorized as distinct “battery fires”.  The EPA report found 245 battery fires from 64 waste facilities occurred between 2013 and 2020 but made clear that the true number of fire incidents is probably much higher because of how many incidents are not made public. Beyond nuanced tracking, waste service providers have been forced to be more proactive in educating the public and operators of the dangers of lithium-ion batteries in the waste system. Awareness campaigns encouraging consumers to recycle batteries responsibly have become fairly commonplace. A couple of measures going into place at facilities are establishing emergency action plans and scheduling regular practice runs, reasoning that the more practice a facility has with lithium battery fires, the more effective the response will be. Operators are also implementing infrared cameras and other surveillance tools to remain vigilant for any signs of smoke and fire during the operation day.   So all that being said, even lithium-ion batteries reaching end of life still pose a major hazard to our waste facilities and waste system at large. With the current wave of lithium-ion adoption going on now, it’s more likely than not that we’ll see a significant rise in fires as those batteries hit their expiration date, especially now that authorities are making a point to track them better. --- ## The Generational Transformation of Our Energy Infrastructure URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/the-generational-transformation-of-our-energy-infrastructure/ With increasing demand for energy and the urgent need to diversify energy production and consumption, the power grid is set to undergo a significant overhaul. Key innovations include the integration of advanced batteries for energy storage, smart grid technologies, and the democratization of energy generation. The Great Generation Load Mismatch An emerging theme of the shift to clean energy is the mismatch between supply and demand, and what to do about it. Renewable energy sources tend to generate more electricity when demand is lower – solar during mid-day and wind at night – and less during the peak 4pm – 8pm window. It’s also becoming more common to see regional supply and demand mismatches as population and industry grows faster than generation capacity. Power can travel from regions with high renewable generation to areas with high load via high-voltage transmission, but building new lines is very expensive and subject to permitting barriers. According to the Department of Energy, “The U.S. needs to expand its transmission grid by around 57% to 47,300 GW-miles by 2035 to meet its clean energy targets, based on a scenario of moderate load and high clean energy deployment.” (It is worth noting DOE made their estimation in October 2023 before the realities of data centers and increasing power demand became clear, so transmission line expansion needs may be even greater.) So how do we solve these problems? Battery Energy Storage Battery energy storage presents itself as one of the most promising solutions to balancing supply and demand. Traditional grids rely heavily on a constant and immediate supply of electricity from power plants to consumers. This method is not only inefficient but also vulnerable to disruptions. Incorporating large-scale battery storage can create a buffer that smooths out fluctuations in energy supply and demand. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) can store excess energy produced during periods of low demand and release it when demand is highest, ensuring a stable and reliable power supply while minimizing the need for supplemental fossil fuel power. This approach ultimately allows for better integration of renewable energy sources like solar and wind, which are inherently intermittent. Batteries can also be used as a form of energy transmission asset. Used in this way, storage can enhance existing transmission lines or even serve as an alternative to building new transmission projects. Storage as transmission assets (SATA) has the potential to reduce congestion and cost-effectively improve transfer capability, provide a technical advantage of grid voltage support that improves transmission capability and renewable energy deliverability, and improve capacity deliverability and reduce local capacity requirements. Smart Grids In addition to battery storage, smart grid technology is set to revolutionize how we manage and distribute electricity. Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly integrating itself into many aspects of life and technology and is poised to become a major feature of energy infrastructure in the renewable energy era. A smart grid uses digital communication technology and AI to monitor and manage the flow of electricity from all points in the grid. Intelligent, real-time data allows for more efficient energy distribution, reducing waste and improving reliability. AI has the ability to quickly act on information such as weather variations, and can learn from load balancing trials to improve over time. Smart grids can quickly detect and respond to problems such as outages or overloads, minimizing downtime and enhancing overall grid resilience. They enable consumers to be more engaged with their energy usage through smart meters and home energy management systems, promoting their participation in energy initiatives and improving efficiency in the process. Decentralization of Energy Decentralization is another critical aspect of the future power grid. Rather than relying solely on large, centralized power plants, the next generation of infrastructure will feature a more distributed model of energy generation. This includes smaller, local power sources like rooftop solar panels or wind turbines paired with storage systems, and even small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). Decentralized energy generation reduces the risk of large-scale power outages and enhances energy security. It also empowers communities and individuals to generate their own electricity. Virtual power plants and vehicle-to-grid technology are further developments that will be featured in the decentralized energy future. As the adoption of EVs and home energy storage grows, so does their potential to serve as energy storage resources that can be activated when aggregate demand is highest. The batteries within these systems can not only draw power from the grid during opportune times but also supply it back during peak demand periods to bring down costs for everyone. These tools are set to increase the penetration of renewables and enhance flexibility, while democratizing participation in the energy ecosystem. Challenges While these innovations of the future energy system have tremendous potential, there are still challenges that must be overcome. Battery storage systems are expensive to access in many parts of the world, limiting the number of communities, businesses, and individuals that can benefit from them.  Developing affordable, efficient, and clean battery technology is crucial for widespread adoption. Similarly, upgrading existing grid infrastructure to support smart technologies and decentralized energy sources requires significant investment and government support. Furthermore, managing a more complex and decentralized grid poses technical challenges. Ensuring seamless integration and communication between various energy sources, storage systems, and consumers demands advanced software and cybersecurity measures. It also requires robust regulatory frameworks to coordinate the actions of multiple stakeholders and protect consumer interests. The Future of Energy Despite these challenges, the benefits of generational transformation in energy infrastructure are clear. A more adaptable, efficient, and sustainable power grid will significantly advance clean energy initiatives, improve energy security, and provide more reliable, low-cost electricity to consumers. Endeavoring to move the transition forward can start with accelerating the adoption of low-cost battery storage solutions. New chemistries that leverage designs with readily-available, globally abundant materials and are also non-flammable can address this colossal market transformation. These attributes will enable consumers to adopt battery-powered devices that allow the infrastructure transition to happen as planned. The generational transformation in infrastructure is not just about improving our power grids but about creating a more sustainable and resilient future. Harnessing advanced batteries, smart grid technologies, decentralized energy generation, and electric vehicles can together build a power system that meets the demands of the 21st century and beyond. This transformation requires vision, innovation, and collaboration, but the rewards of a decarbonization, more reliable power, and a stronger economy are well worth the effort. --- ## Mitigating Risks Through Diverse Battery Supply Chains URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/mitigating-risks-through-diverse-battery-supply-chains/ In an era where change is happening rapidly, there undoubtedly exists some anxiety about where we get our commercial goods from and if we can be sure we can get them when we need them. For industries critical to national goals, be it security or meeting climate reduction targets, we are seeing countries taking action to decouple their supply chains to take back control and reduce exposure to interruptions. One of those industries governments are anxious about is the batteries that go in electric vehicles, energy storage systems, military equipment, and many more devices of the 21st century. When the Risks Outweigh the Benefits The imperative to build new, diverse supply chains comes as risks or tensions are identified in the global supply chain. In the context of battery manufacturing, particularly for lithium-ion batteries, risks have become clearer in recent years. For one, it has become clear that companies based in Asia have significant influence over practically every aspect of the battery supply chain, from sourcing to refining to manufacturing. As the recent COVID-19 pandemic revealed, the disruption of highly concentrated supply chains can lead to significant shortages and other downstream effects in a globalized market. Western countries are now pushing to re-shore manufacturing of everything from batteries and semiconductors to steel and other building materials. Another area of concern are the environmental and human impacts of lithium-ion battery manufacturing, which have been subject to scrutiny due to how problematic they are. Lithium mining comes at the cost of clearing landscapes and using unbelievable amounts of fresh water, directly impacting nearby communities that rely on it. Another input of lithium-ion batteries, cobalt, is primarily sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is fraught with political turbulence and human rights issues. Mining and refining for another material, nickel, is incredibly energy intensive and causes local pollution leading to health hazards for workers and communities, which are not desirable features of a clean energy future. What is the World Doing About It? In response to the ongoing issues, the United States, EU, Canada, and other countries have enacted measures to prop up elements of domestic and diversified supply chains, with others under consideration. Some of the landmark policies around this include: US Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Passed in 2021, this act allocated nearly $7 billion to develop a robust US battery supply chain for electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage, de-risking critical sectors like transportation and energy. US Inflation Reduction Act: This 2022 law incentivized consumers with a $7,500 tax credit for new EV purchases, specifically excluding vehicles containing battery components produced by foreign entities of concern (FEOCs). The Biden administration has a plan to gradually increase these restrictions through 2027. The act also grants 10 years’ worth of tax credits for the domestic manufacturing of battery cells and modules. US CHIPS and Science Act: This $50 billion act aims to reshore production of high-tech equipment by funding American semiconductor research, development, and production. EU Net Zero Industry Act: The Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) sets a benchmark for European manufacturers to produce 40% of the EU’s annual needs of clean tech products, such as solar and wind power systems, battery storage and fuel cells, by 2030. Canada Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund: The 2023 government fund of $1.5 billion over seven years will support the development of strategic infrastructure projects that will enable the acceleration of Canada’s critical minerals production and reinforce associated supply chains. India Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes: In 2021, the Indian government introduced PLI schemes to promote domestic manufacturing of EVs and their components. An automative PLI scheme supports the manufacturing of advanced automotive technologies, and another PLI scheme specifically targets the manufacturing of advanced chemistry cell (ACC) batteries, aiming to reduce battery costs and, consequently, EV costs​ Benefits of Developing New Battery Supply Chains There are many reasons that a government would want to establish more control over supply chains beyond reducing exposure. Some of the benefits of taking such actions include: Boosts Supply Chain Resiliency Diversifying supply chains means increasing sourcing options for critical materials. In case of further geopolitical tensions or natural disasters, this reduces the risk of crucial supply disruptions. Sourcing from multiple countries also breeds a competitive pricing environment and fosters collaboration with free trade partners to ensure a robust and adaptable supply chain. Creates New Jobs Diversifying supply chains requires investing in industries like mining, EV manufacturing, and research and development. This can revitalize domestic industry, foster innovation, and provide employment opportunities across various sectors of the battery supply chain. Creating these jobs within a country’s borders also allows better oversight and more ethical working conditions. Reduces Emissions Sourcing materials and building batteries closer to end users reduces not only freight costs but also carbon footprints. Localized production and shorter supply chains mean fewer emissions associated with transporting materials and components across long distances. Reshoring supply chains also provides companies with greater control over manufacturing facilities so they can create leaner, more efficient production processes that reduce overall emissions. Strengthens Security Batteries are positioned to play a major role in the power grid of the next generation. To that end, it makes sense that a country would want to secure its own supply of batteries and related equipment as energy infrastructure is intertwined with energy security. New Battery Chemistries Encourage Diversity If we continue to rely solely on lithium-ion batteries, many countries could still come up short on their energy security goals. The reality is that some materials are only available in certain parts of the world, and in the US and EU, it can take 5 – 10 years for a new mining project to go through permitting to production. Shifting to new battery chemistries that leverage materials already sourced in quantity around the world is one way to promote supply chain diversity. For example, Alsym’s revolutionary new technology uses materials that are readily available in North and South America, Australia, and Africa, as opposed to the critical minerals in lithium-ion batteries. Alsym batteries can also be made in existing lithium-ion factories, which means lower costs of reshoring production and faster progress for de-risking the battery industry. These reduced barriers allow companies to scale up domestic production quickly and strengthen national security before it’s too late. We’re working to make low-cost, non-flammable batteries available to all. Learn how our battery technology can boost economic self-sufficiency and power the renewable energy world. --- ## Choosing the Right Batteries to Bolster Data Centers URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/choosing-the-right-batteries-to-bolster-data-centers/ In the world of data centers, power is everything. Data centers operate 24/7 and rely on a specially engineered system of primary power and backup generators, with batteries bridging the gap in between. These power redundancies are in place to enforce the golden rule in data centers: you cannot have downtime and you cannot have a power outage. Battery systems in data centers have typically taken on the role of uninterrupted power supply (UPS), providing short and intense bursts of power to keep servers running when main power fails and before diesel backup generators turn on. But recent advancements in energy storage technology have positioned batteries to revolutionize how data centers are powered, enabling new use cases such as microgrids, demand response, and load shifting. While batteries are beginning to prove their worth in data center settings, it’s crucial to consider the different battery technologies available and avoid the risks that some bring. The Prevalence of Data Centers Data centers have become ubiquitous in today’s digital landscape, underpinning the global infrastructure of information exchange. Their prevalence is evident in the exponential growth of data generated and processed daily, fueled by trends like cloud computing and big data analytics. From multinational corporations to small businesses, organizations rely on data centers to store, manage, and distribute vast volumes of digital information. Moreover, the proliferation of online services and digital platforms has driven the expansion of new hyperscale data centers supporting thousands of individual servers that operate via high-speed internet connectivity. Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google are just a few examples of hyperscale customers. Artificial intelligence (AI) is also developing rapidly and will advance to where it’s integrated in various aspects of our lives. With all these advancements the demand for power will increase. According to Boston Consulting Group (BCG), data centers’ portion of total electricity use in the U.S will rise from 2.5% (130TWh) in 2022 to 7.5% (390TWh) in 2030. AI applications in particular rely heavily on complex algorithms and massive amounts of data processing. This surge in computational requirements translates into an increased demand for power. Data Centers and Batteries In addition to serving UPS needs, batteries enable multiple energy management features for data centers. Centers are now beginning to optimize energy usage by setting up microgrids consisting of renewables plus energy storage, allowing them to tap into stored power during peak demand periods and seamlessly transitioning between grid and off-grid modes as needed. Microgrids can also support data centers operation for longer durations in the event of a power outage. By participating in demand response programs, data centers can actively manage their power consumption, mitigating strain on the grid and avoiding peak demand charges. For example, data center operators could configure their battery storage system to charge before a peak event so that only stored energy is used during peak times, lowering costs. Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) offer another pathway for data centers to enhance sustainability profiles while meeting growing energy demands. By committing to long-term agreements with renewable energy developers, data centers can secure a consistent supply of clean energy from renewables and storage systems at a competitive price. State of Data Center Batteries Battery technology in data centers is undergoing a transformative evolution, propelled by advancements aimed at enhancing reliability, efficiency, and sustainability. Traditional lead-acid batteries, while prevalent for back-up power, are gradually making room for more innovative solutions like lithium-ion batteries that are higher performing and unlock more capabilities. An even newer generation of batteries are making their way into data centers to offer high energy density, increased safety, and longer lifespan, which are all attractive traits for data center applications. As data centers strive to meet escalating demands for performance and sustainability, battery technology continues to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of digital infrastructure, driving resilience and efficiency to new heights. Risks to Consider While advancements in data center battery technology offer compelling benefits, some types can also introduce inherent dangers and challenges. Lithium-ion batteries, while renowned for their high energy density and fast charging, are susceptible to fires or explosions if not properly managed. These incidents pose significant safety risks to personnel and infrastructure within data center facilities. These fires have occurred and are devastating to technological infrastructures, the environment, and human safety. Further, they can have significant impact on government services, critical infrastructure, emergency response systems, and other high-impact applications. Alternative Battery Chemistries for Data Centers The future of data center battery technology lies with alternative battery chemistries. These alternative technologies can provide new options that increase the share of renewable energy powering data centers but with enhanced safety and reliability. Alternative battery chemistries provide power without the dangers of fires and toxic gases, primarily by using non-flammable and non-toxic materials. These alternative battery technologies can provide a safer and more sustainable option to power data centers, which are in urgent need of reliable and scalable energy storage options in the face of growing energy needs. Data centers are an integral part of the modern technological reality, so it is imperative that they are maintained in the safest way possible. Using alternative batteries to power large data centers significantly reduces the dangers that battery-powered centers pose to the world. By embracing these alternatives, data centers can enhance resilience, lower operational costs, and position themselves at the forefront of sustainability initiatives. As technology continues to evolve, harnessing the potential of alternative battery solutions is essential for meeting the growing demands of the digital age while avoiding unnecessary safety risks. --- ## Comparing ESS Battery Technologies URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/comparing-ess-battery-technologies/ In today’s battery energy storage landscape, lithium-ion runs the show, making up 99% of new energy storage capacity over the last few years. But that is not to say other contenders don’t have a leg up on lithium when it comes to certain safety and performance metrics. Here we take a look at advantages, disadvantages, and nuances of several newer energy storage technologies vying to get a foothold in the market. For the purposes of this post, the scope of the comparison will be limited to grid-level performance and safety. Let’s dive in. For each tech, we’ll look at: How it works Energy density Safety Cycle life Discharge duration Other features (low-temperature performance, etc.) Lithium-Ion Lithium-ion batteries are commonplace for a couple of reasons. Lithium-ion is a widely adopted, commercially mature technology, used since the 1990’s in consumer electronics and for the past decade in electric vehicles. They work through the well-known, highly efficient intercalation mechanism in which the working ion shuttles between the cathode and anode during charge and discharge. They are also energy dense – up to 700 Wh/L in today’s versions – meaning they can pack more energy per unit of weight or volume than other currently available technologies. But they have their drawbacks, including the potential for thermal runaway, a relatively high degradation rate, and limited service life in some varieties. Thermal runaway stands front and center of these issues. Several exothermic reactions can occur within the cell due to shorts or abuse that can lead to a rapid and continuous increase in the temperature of the cell. This situation is especially dangerous due to lithium-ion’s use of an inherently flammable liquid electrolyte. The rapid temperature increase of a single cell can affect adjacent cells and lead the entire pack, rack, and system to go into an unstoppable thermal event, resulting in fire or explosion. During these events toxic gases, including deadly hydrogen fluoride, can be emitted. Necessary measures must be taken to avoid thermal runaway; these include intense thermal and energy management, which can reduce energy efficiency. A relatively high degradation rate (depending on depth of discharge) and limited service life are other considerations that affect grid-level performance. Lithium-ion batteries use a graphite anode that is prone to lithium plating as the battery charges, especially in low temperatures or other thermal transients that compromise the structural integrity of materials and systems. Sodium-Ion Sodium-ion batteries operate in a similar way to lithium-ion batteries, but rely on the intercalation of sodium ions (Na+) instead of lithium ions (Li+). They are considered a potential solution to some of the shortcomings of lithium-ion batteries, particularly with respect to safety and performance at low temperatures. Sodium-ion batteries generally have lower energy density than Li-ion batteries due to the larger size of sodium ions and lower capacity of active materials. The sodium-ion battery cathode types on the market today – layered metal oxide, prussian blue analogues, and polyanionic – vary in their active materials and historically have all had tradeoffs in what they could offer with respect to energy density, efficiency, and reliability. It is only recently that innovations have allowed the most important battery attributes to be captured in a single technology. Because sodium-ion batteries rely on sodium, an element one thousand times more abundant in the Earth’s crust, they are well-positioned to scale to levels needed to reach our stationary storage goals. Sodium-ion batteries have been deployed for uninterrupted power supply (UPS) applications that call for very short-duration high power. They also have much better low-temperature performance than lithium-ion batteries, which makes them useful in extreme northern and southern climates. With new products entering the market, sodium-ion will very likely have its place in the market for energy infrastructure projects and industrial applications requiring steady low-voltage power. They are a technology to watch given the pervasive limitations of lithium-ion batteries. Lead Acid Lead acid batteries have been around and in use since the 19th century. They use lead material in the cathode and anode and a sulfuric acid solution as the electrolyte. They do not use the intercalation mechanism like lithium-ion and sodium-ion. Instead, lead-acid batteries operate through a different electrochemical process involving the conversion of lead and lead dioxide into lead sulfate and vice versa. Lead acid battery technology has evolved over the last few decades. The three main types on the market today are standard valve-regulated lead acid (VRLA), gel lead acid, and absorbed glass mat (AGM). All have lower energy density than lithium-ion – in the 60-70 Wh/L range – and suffer from relatively short service lives, requiring frequent replacement. Care must also be taken during charging, as overcharging or fast charging lead acid batteries can permanently damage the battery. Generally speaking, standard VRLA batteries offer higher energy and power density than most other energy storage battery types mentioned in this article but they have a cycle life in the hundreds, reflecting short service life. Failing to properly charge and store standard lead acid batteries can also result in sulfation on the battery plates, causing permanent damage. Leaking sulfuric acid is another possible hazard if the batteries are improperly handled or damaged. Gel lead acid leverages a gel electrolyte which offers lower corrosion and higher cycle life than standard VRLA, as well as improved safety. However, the unexpected rupture of the battery is still a concern. Gel lead acid is best suited for long-duration, low-power needs. Lastly, sealed AGM batteries provide enhanced safety because they are completely sealed and the mats holds the electrolyte in place, but they are highly sensitive to overcharging which can and potentially lead to thermal runaway. As the battery gets warmer from the exothermic reaction during charging, AGM batteries can accept a higher charge current, which in turn leads to more heat being produced that damages the battery permanently, and in rare situations could lead to explosion if the safety valves fail. Further, because frequent or deep cycling reduces service life, AGM batteries are best suited to UPS and industrial applications that favor high power instead of extended duration. Iron-Air Iron-air batteries are a type of metal-air battery that use iron as the anode and atmospheric oxygen reactions with a catalyst as the cathode, coupled with an electrolyte to facilitate the charge transfer. Iron-air batteries claim to use abundant and non-toxic raw materials, and present negligible operational safety hazards. However, they have a low round-trip efficiency of 40-50 percent, which could be from inherent inefficiencies or a high self-discharge rate This means a significant amount of the energy required to charge a battery of this type is lost and not available during the discharge of the battery, reducing the amount of energy that is actually stored. If the culprit is high self-discharge, this would make iron-air batteries less applicable for back-up power where the battery needs to hold onto power for long periods until it’s needed. Further, unlike lithium-ion batteries, an iron-air battery has additional system complexity and balance of plant requirements for the air cathode. This increases the physical footprint dramatically in comparison to other ESS technologies. Additionally, iron-air batteries have a relatively low power density and poor rate capability, which means they are not well-suited for applications requiring rapid discharge. For these reasons, the majority of the capacity of an iron-air battery would only be fully utilized 1-2 times per year, severely restricting the applicability of iron-air batteries. Flow Batteries Flow batteries, also known as redox flow batteries, store energy in liquid electrolyte solutions that are kept in two separate tanks. The electrolytes are pumped from these tanks into a cell where they are separated by a membrane. One electrolyte acts as the cathode and the other as the anode, with differing ionic species in the respective electrolytes that can be oxidized and reduced to store and release energy. This energy storage technology is well-commercialized and offers a high level of safety, long cycle life, and minimal degradation over time because the energy is stored in the electrolyte rather than in solid electrodes (i.e. no intercalation or conversion reactions). Another advantage of flow batteries is that they can be left completely discharged for long periods without suffering any damage, which is not the case with many other types of batteries. They can also offer a discharge duration of milliseconds to 24 hours, which is atypical among ESS technologies. Flow batteries have some downsides as well. Their energy density is significantly lower than other types of batteries, meaning they take up more space for the same amount of energy stored. This gives them a large physical footprint for practically any energy storage application. They have round-trip efficiencies around 75%, much lower than lithium-ion but higher than iron-air. Flow batteries can also be complex and expensive to manufacture and maintain, as the system involves pumps, sensors, and control units to manage the flow of the electrolyte. Nickel Hydrogen Nickel-hydrogen (NiH2) batteries consist of a positive nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)2) electrode and a negative hydrogen electrode. The battery’s energy is stored and released by the electrochemical reactions of the nickel hydroxide and hydrogen electrodes. During charging, nickel hydroxide on the cathode is oxidized, while hydrogen gas is evolved from the electrolyte on the anode through a hydrogen evolution reaction. During discharge, the process is reversed by acting like a fuel cell (reducing hydrogen gas back to electricity and water). Nickel-hydrogen batteries have primarily been used for satellite and space applications due to their robustness and a long cycle life to the tune of 30 years / 30,000 cycles under normal use conditions. Discharge durations range from 2 hours to 12 hours, enabling most intraday and interday applications but restricting multiday. The duration is limited by a high self-discharge rate of 30% capacity loss after 80 hours. Nickel-hydrogen batteries have a lower energy density – particularly gravimetric energy density due to a relatively high weight – compared to other battery types. Their charge-discharge efficiency is also not as high as lithium-ion. With respect to safety, cell components are housed in a tubular high-pressure vessel, which presents safety concerns if cells are punctured or seals fail. Liquid Metal Batteries A liquid metal battery is composed of three layers: a top layer with a low-density liquid metal that serves as the positive electrode, a bottom layer of high-density liquid metal that serves as the negative electrode, and a molten salt layer in between that serves as the electrolyte. During the discharge phase, reactions occur at the positive and negative electrodes to form an intermetallic alloy and electrons are released to the external circuit. During the charging phase, an external power supply is used to drive the reaction in the reverse direction, regenerating the original composition of the electrodes. Liquid metal batteries can operate at high temperatures, which can minimize degradation and enable a long lifespan. Because the system is entirely liquid, it doesn’t suffer from the cycle-to-cycle capacity fade seen in many solid-state batteries. Discharge durations fall between four and sixteen hours. However, the technology also has some challenges. The high operating temperatures required to keep the metals and salts in a molten state can lead to reduced energy efficiency and presents engineering and safety challenges. The choice of materials can also impact the battery’s voltage and energy density and the use of gravity to isolate the electrodes requires the system to maintain a certain orientation, predisposing it to stationary applications. Zinc Bromine Batteries Zinc bromine batteries store electrical energy through zinc deposition. A non-flammable aqueous electrolyte is held within individual cells, creating a pool that provides dynamic separation of the electrodes. During charge and discharge, zinc and halide ions move through the electrolyte to their respective electrode to donate or accept electrons, creating a current flow through the bipolar stack. Zinc bromine batteries offer a reasonable mix of energy density, safety, and expected service life. Because electrochemical reactions occur on both electrodes during charge and discharge (a bipolar structure compared to lithium-ion’s unipolar), internal resistance is reduced, thereby enhancing service life. But this advantage comes at the cost of slower charge and discharge rates, as well as reduced energy efficiency compared to lithium-ion. Zinc bromine batteries also have a relatively high self-discharge rate of 1 percent per hour which lowers round-trip efficiency and limits the range of use cases. They are best suited for 3 to 12 hour discharge durations. The electrolyte is also toxic which can pose some risk in the event cells are damaged. How Alsym Is Changing the Game Alsym batteries are a non-toxic alternative to lithium-ion that avoid lithium and cobalt completely. Using readily available, inherently non-flammable materials, Alsym batteries offer high performance at lower risk than Li-ion. Storage systems using Alsym batteries can offer the best mix of energy density, safety, efficiency, and cycle life capability among non-lithium options on the market today. We’re working to bring the benefits of low-cost, non-flammable batteries to more people, infrastructure, and critical assets. Contact us to find out more about the future of battery technology. --- ## Managing Security Risks for the Future Energy Grid URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/managing-security-risks-in-a-renewable-energy-future/ Vulnerabilities in the power sector call for safer, more sustainable battery solutions Modern power grids face major security threats – cyber attacks, physical vandalism, and natural hazards all have the potential to throw domestic energy systems into turmoil. With a major energy transition underway and an ultimate goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the need for a resilient and secure grid is more crucial than ever. Current efforts to move away from a centralized grid and the risks that come with it focus on enhancing distributed energy resources (DERs). DERs consist of technologies like solar PV, wind energy, and battery energy storage systems (BESS) and are versatile in where they can be sited and connected to the grid. This is vital because they provide a hedge against an expansive energy network going down from an attack. Battery energy storage is a DER with a significant role in achieving grid security, but the lithium-ion batteries used in conventional systems present their own security risks. The issues mainly arise from their flammability and toxicity, but the lithium battery supply chain poses threats as well. As the reliance on batteries rises for their ability to flexibly manage energy from renewable sources, so does the need for alternative battery chemistries that are safe, accessible, and secure. Current Threats to the Grid Energy security is defined as maintaining a stable energy supply at a sustainable price, which rests on the careful management of electricity supply and demand at effectively all times. If one component of the electrical grid goes down, the ripple effect to other pieces of energy infrastructure is almost imminent. The urgency of safeguarding our power supply comes as weaknesses in a centralized grid come to light, that could be exploited by bad actors. Some of these concerns include: Cybersecurity Cyber attacks are happening more regularly in an interconnected world. The incidents involve people who target grid infrastructure through hacking, malware, and other cyber tactics. The outcome can be data breaches, systems overrides, and disruptions to essential services. In early 2022, the US Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin warning that domestic extremists want to disrupt electrical systems to create chaos. There have also been warnings of widespread blackouts, with both independent and state actors having the capability to launch these disruptions. These concerns are not exclusive to the US, with other countries aware of similar disruptions. In April 2023, hackers successfully breached the networks of a Canadian gas pipeline. Once in, they were able to increase valve pressure, disable alarms, and make emergency shutdowns.   Physical Attacks With many interrelated components, the power grid’s physical infrastructure also faces vulnerabilities. There are thousands of electrical substations and hundreds of thousands of miles of high-voltage power lines which leaves them susceptible to attacks, whether from vandals or domestic terrorists. These attacks can not only cause power grid outages but also large financial losses. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), physical attacks on the grid increased by 77% in 2022. A notable example is in Moore County, NC in 2022, where an attack by armed individuals on two power substations left more than 40,000 people without power. Out of this incident, state officials have raised alarms that key infrastructure needs to be better protected to counter future attacks. At a much larger scale, relying primarily on fossil fuel infrastructure to produce electricity comes with significant concerns, because a network of drills, refineries, and pipelines all dictate supply. This vulnerability was revealed in September 2022 when the Nord Stream pipelines suffered significant damage due to explosions, disrupting the flow of natural gas from Russia to European countries. Natural Hazards In addition to extreme weather events and the obvious impact they can have on the power system, the grid is also up against solar storms and electromagnetic pulses (EMPs). Solar storms occur when high-energy particles are released into space from the sun’s surface. That energy can interact with the earth’s magnetic field and interfere with technology like satellites and power grids. EMPs are intense bursts of electromagnetic energy that can be used in an attack to damage or disrupt electronic equipment and systems. In March 2024, the Earth experienced a severe geomagnetic storm caused by a coronal mass ejection from the sun. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), infrastructure operators were informed by the agency in case of any impacts. Continued proactive measures are needed to build contingency plans and invest in innovative technologies to withstand such threats. Lithium-Ion Batteries: Flammability and Concerns from Abroad With the transition towards a higher mix of renewable energy sources, the role of energy storage in the future power system will become more pronounced. BESS tied to the grid that use lithium-ion batteries are popular due to their high energy density and rechargeable capabilities. However, using lithium-based batteries in critical infrastructure also poses significant concerns. A primary concern is thermal runaway, a self-sustaining reaction that can occur when a battery’s temperature rises uncontrollably. The outcome can be explosive and a serious safety risk to personnel and infrastructure. Explosions can also happen if lithium-ion batteries in thermal runaway aren’t properly ventilated. As this phenomenon occurs, toxic gases can also be released, creating a health threat to anyone around in the vicinity. In 2023, a fire erupted inside a battery storage container at a solar plant in San Diego County, California. Businesses and homes near the facility had to be evacuated, and a shelter-in-place order was issued. With these types of fires likely to increase as lithium-based energy storage accelerates, there may be more frequent incidents that take down energy infrastructure and present health risks. Another security concern presented by lithium-ion batteries stems from the lack of robust domestic battery supply chains in most Western nations. Because just a handful of countries control the battery supply chain, any interruption could result in abrupt supply shortages. This is why government officials are prioritising setting up domestic battery supply chains to rebalance that control. Lastly, there is looming concern of network infiltration via battery systems. In December 2023, Marine Corps base Camp Lejeune in the US disconnected grid-scale batteries made by leading manufacturer CATL after lawmakers raised concerns about backdoor capabilities that could be vulnerable to hacking attempts. For this scenario in which the security of a military base was at stake, the concerns translated into action. While CATL has refuted those claims, concerns persist. A Secure Battery Future As distributed energy resources step in to bolster aging and insecure power grids, the need for safe and domestically-produced batteries becomes more apparent. Industry leaders can address the shortcomings of current batteries with alternative solutions that are non-flammable, non-toxic, and that use sustainable materials. Emerging innovations are showing promise in meeting these criteria while maintaining performance standards. An advantage to many alternative battery chemistries is their potential to enhance grid security. These safer alternatives do not have toxic gas emissions and are not capable of going into thermal runaway, reducing the likelihood of accidents and incidents that could disrupt grid operations and harm those living or working around them. They are also ideal for storing renewable energy and can make the grid more resilient when backup power is needed. Addressing power grid security risks requires a concerted effort to invest in sustainable solutions, particularly regarding energy storage. By prioritizing research and development in alternative chemistries, stakeholders in the energy sector can take the steps needed to protect the power grid’s strength and security. Adoption of sustainable, domestically produced battery technology can help ensure a clean and secure energy future. --- ## BESS Battery Energy Storage Systems URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/battery-energy-storage-systems-bess/ Anyone living in the 21st century knows what a battery is. If you’re a scientist, you might have a technical definition involving electron flows and redox reactions, but the layperson’s understanding of batteries as mobile power sources for their electronic devices is certainly correct. By comparison, BESS Battery energy storage systems are a somewhat niche topic. These systems will play a critical role in building the robust, reliable, renewable energy grids of the future. But what exactly is this technology? What is a BESS Battery Energy Storage System? A battery energy storage system, or BESS, is an electrical grid component consisting of one or more batteries. Like a reservoir that draws water from multiple rivers, battery energy storage systems are capable of storing and discharging energy from different sources. BESS technology was developed as a solution to the reliability and performance challenges that renewable power generation sources present for power grids. Recognizing the role that power generation technologies like coal plants play in causing climate change, utilities are increasingly turning to renewable sources like wind and solar to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. While these green technologies don’t produce greenhouse gas emissions, they lack the reliability of carbon-heavy legacy technologies. By collecting and storing large amounts of energy from disparate sources until it’s needed, BESS technology is a critical component of a robust renewables-based power grid. Types of BESS Systems In principle, BESS systems can make use of any energy storage technology. In practice, most systems use lithium-ion batteries, although liquid-based sodium-sulfur, zinc bromine, iron air, lead acid, vanadium flow, and nickel hydrogen systems also exist. An established technology, lithium-ion is preferred in most BESS applications for its efficiency and energy density, although those in the energy storage community are increasingly sounding off about the downsides to lithium-ion batteries. These include volatility in the price of lithium, environmental pollution stemming from improper disposal of toxic chemicals involved in producing lithium, and lithium-ion’s notorious flammability. For these and other reasons, many BESS designers and operators await the arrival of next-gen energy storage solutions with great anticipation. Applications for BESS Technology The primary application of BESS technology is in public power grids, where its capacity to store and dispense energy when needed makes BESS an important part of the global shift away from fossil fuels. However, smaller BESS options have applications in residential, commercial, and industrial contexts as well. Homeowners with solar panels may wish to install BESS with capacities in the range of 5–40 kWh to store the energy their panels collect for future use. This may be particularly attractive for those pursuing an off-the-grid lifestyle. In commercial and industrial contexts like manufacturing or cloud data storage, where a reliable energy source is critical, BESS can also help reduce the risk of business difficulties stemming from potential power interruptions. Well-documented cases of rolling blackouts brought on by extreme weather in recent years have weakened many customers’ confidence that utility companies can provide uninterrupted electricity. Business owners who prefer to take the situation into their own hands may consider investing in BESS. The Benefits of BESS Systems BESS’s primary benefits are improved energy efficiency, increased cost savings, reduced environmental pollution, and better reliability and resilience. Energy efficiency: Renewable energy generation is only possible under certain conditions. To generate wind power, there must be wind, and solar power can only be generated in the daytime. Conversely, the energy supplied by these sources can often outpace demand. In a traditional grid, this excess energy goes to waste or generation is curtailed. BESS solutions allow this excess energy to be captured and stored, increasing the efficiency with which the electrical grid generates power. Cost savings: For the same reason that battery energy storage systems increase efficiency, BESS also provides operational cost savings even when considering the capital to build the systems. BESS technology allows electrical grids that combine renewable and legacy power generation technologies to use more free renewable energy and spend less on generating power from fossil fuels. Environmental benefits: By reducing electric grids’ reliance on fossil fuels, BESS technology reduces greenhouse gas emissions associated with burning coal and other fossil fuels. It can also reduce the pollution, environmental contamination, and greenhouse gas emissions associated with extracting and transporting those same fossil fuels. Reliability and resilience: Modern business, commerce, entertainment, and simple day-to-day life rely on electricity, making a dependable source of energy for homes and businesses indispensable. Serious challenges, including multiple major economic and political crises, have emerged in recent years as grids start to shift away from fossil fuels to renewables. BESS technology helps electrical grids that rely on inconsistent renewable sources to accommodate major spikes in demand, such as during heat waves. Additionally, by allowing grids to rely more on renewables, consumers are more insulated from price volatility in energy markets such as the natural gas market. The Future of Energy Storage with Alsym The future of BESS technology is tied more generally to the future of battery storage. Currently, most energy storage applications rely on lithium-ion solutions. While the development of lithium-ion energy storage solutions was a breakthrough at the time, the global reliance on this technology for everything from electric vehicles to consumer electronics to BESS has laid bare serious issues, including cost, safety, toxicity, and geopolitical risks. Forthcoming next-gen battery technologies will revolutionize BESS technology and battery storage overall with lower manufacturing costs, better safety, and non-toxicity. At Alsym, our team of battery storage veterans and innovators has been hard at work developing the next generation of battery storage technology for over eight years. Contact us today to learn more about our disruptive low-cost and high-performance battery chemistry, as well as our platform approach that minimizes supply chain stresses. --- ## Enabling A Domestic Battery Value Chain in the US URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/enabling-a-domestic-battery-value-chain-in-the-us/ Batteries stand at the forefront of the global transition towards a cleaner, more sustainable energy economy. They play a pivotal role in integrating renewable energy sources like solar and wind power, while reducing grid-related costs and increasing resilience. Yet, the United States struggles with significant obstacles in establishing its own domestic base of battery storage manufacturing to move this generational transition forward. The United States needs to address these obstacles and establish its own, independent manufacturing capacity for several reasons. Ongoing reliance on foreign sources for critical minerals leaves the supply chain vulnerable to disruptions caused by natural disasters, geopolitical tensions, or other unforeseen events. In addition, the United States is not prepared to set up mining operations for critical materials domestically—at least nowhere near the scale needed to meet projected demand. As the world moves towards an electrified future, figuring out the supply chain challenges associated with domestic battery production is crucial for promoting a sustainable and resilient clean energy system. Domestic Supply Chain Obstacles A recent report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) highlights the major obstacles the United States faces in establishing a strong domestic battery storage manufacturing industry. The SEIA report unveils the stark disparity between the current domestic production capacity, estimated at approximately 60GWh annually, and the projected market demand, expected to soar to 895GWh by 2030 for the U.S. and its free-trade partners. This imbalance demonstrates a pressing need to bridge the gap between supply and demand, or else risk solidifying reliance on battery cell and component imports from global battery powerhouses in Asia. A main hurdle outlined in the report is the sourcing of essential raw materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel, with graphite in particular emerging as a critical bottleneck. The challenges associated with sourcing these materials domestically include the simple fact that not all are readily available in the US, and that significant environmental damage is necessary for extracting those that are. These factors, coupled with existing deep reliance on imports, reveals the supply chain’s insecurity towards setting up domestic manufacturing. There is an urgent need for strategic interventions aimed at guaranteeing a stable and sustainable supply of these essential materials. Concerns also loom over production yields and workforce development. Newcomers in the industry encounter difficulties reaching maximum production efficiency at factories, to the tune of 50% efficiency compared to 98% for established companies. Additionally, substantial effort will be required to boost technical know-how and roll out workforce training programs. Government Initiatives and Industry Responses In response to the clear difficulties confronting the domestic battery supply chain, US governmental organizations and industry stakeholders have started initiatives to support domestic manufacturing capabilities and reduce reliance on imports. The Biden Administration has signaled its commitment to advancing clean energy and enhancing national production through legislative measures such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. (The European Union has simultaneously enacted their own major legislation to spark regional investments. These initiatives as a whole have been core to promoting domestic battery manufacturing and sustainable material sourcing practices.) One notable example is the impact of the American Battery Materials Initiative, announced by President Biden in October 2022, which allocates $2.8 billion in Department of Energy grants to support the development of a strong battery materials supply chain in the US. Twenty manufacturing and processing companies that supply materials essential for energy storage and electric vehicle (EV) components are receiving these grants. Another example is through the Inflation Reduction Act, which incentivizes battery manufacturers to use locally sourced materials by offering subsidies to manufacturers that meet specific criteria. By prioritizing raw materials mined and processed in North America or sourced from US trading partners, the act aims to reduce dependence on imports from countries deemed potential security risks. Industry responses to these governmental initiatives have been swift and decisive, with significant investments pouring into battery gigafactories across the country, including over 380 battery gigafactories in the pipeline through 2030. The industry must continue overcoming ongoing barriers related to raw material sourcing and production efficiency despite the considerable progress since passage of the programs. Partnerships between industry newcomers and established players are proving to play an important in navigating these constraints. Attainable Alternatives A lot of attention has been given to domestic supply chain problems for lithium-ion, and that’s great, but arguably not enough attention has been given to the potential of novel, innovative battery chemistries. Lithium-ion batteries have a critical role to play, but alternatives utilizing sustainable minerals and materials are pivotal in reducing the environmental impact of battery production and usage while supporting a more resilient energy ecosystem. By shifting away from reliance on scarce or environmentally harmful resources, these alternatives can help solve the puzzle of unlocking a sustainable energy future. Developing alternative chemistries addresses concerns related to the sourcing of raw materials. It also can decrease dependency on foreign supply chains, increase safety and reduce costs. Startups in operation today are developing new battery chemistries that are also non-flammable and non-toxic, further enhancing their viability and sustainability. Some can even seamlessly integrate into existing production facility infrastructure, minimizing the demand for extensive expansions and reducing environmental impact. Despite the promising potential of sustainable battery technologies, a significant funding gap still exists for private companies and startups in their early research and development or scaling-up phases. This lack of financial support, particularly from federal programs, challenges innovative companies and hampers technological advancements. It cannot be overstated that in light of supply chain challenges, diversifying the scope of support during these pivotal stages is essential. It promotes development while ensuring funding remains within local companies rather than flowing back to foreign entities who are thinking about a host of battery technologies beyond just lithium-ion. Exploring sustainable alternatives presents an opportunity to enhance national energy security by reducing reliance on imports and diversifying the domestic battery supply chain. The US can strengthen its resilience to geopolitical uncertainties and supply chain disruptions by investing in homegrown innovations and technologies, which also have the potential to boost the local economy, create jobs, and stimulate further technological advancements. By embracing innovation and committing to new battery technologies, industry stakeholders can pave the way for a more resilient, environmentally conscious, and energy-secure future. --- ## Understanding Short-, Medium- and Long-Duration Energy Storage URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/understanding-short-medium-and-long-duration-energy-storage/ Examining the importance of different energy storage solutions in the renewable energy landscape The United States continues to battle climate change with the goal of reaching 100% carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035. From frequency regulation to ensuring grid stability during heavy electricity demand, batteries fill critical gaps in a renewable energy-powered grid. However, not all energy storage is created equal. Different energy storage technologies offer different discharge duration ranges – a measurement indicating how many hours of energy can be delivered in one discharge cycle. The three main categories of durations are short, medium, and long, with each serving specific needs in the evolving clean energy space. It’s become clear in recent years that our energy storage needs will need to be met by more than one storage type, and a wide range of discharge durations will be required. A diverse portfolio of energy storage technologies with varying durations will inevitably be key to meeting our decarbonization and renewable energy goals. Short-Duration Energy Storage Short-duration energy storage (SDES) assets are intended to provide energy for a few milliseconds up to four hours. An example of a technology that can only provide very short-duration energy are capacitors, which are used in electronics and power systems to quickly store and release electrical energy. Flywheels are an example of a storage mechanism that store kinetic energy in a rotating mass and instantly provide power bursts. Sodium-ion and nickel-zinc batteries are also technologies proven to provide short-duration, high-power storage, particularly for UPS applications. In the larger energy grid, lithium-ion makes up the vast majority of energy storage projects for the millisecond- to four-hour duration range. SDES is often used to stabilize the frequency of power grids, essential for maintaining the reliability and efficiency of electrical distribution systems. Storage solutions used for this purpose help manage sudden changes in electricity supply or demand as the systems can quickly respond to balance the unexpected spikes or drops to the electrical grid. The other clear advantage of SDES solutions is their ability to relieve stress on the grid when demand is at its highest. They can store solar energy during the day, then release it several hours later when people get home from work and turn on their AC, use their dishwasher, and so on. But SDES applications can be limited due to inherent discharge limitations or because economics don’t support durations beyond 4 hours. Further, as many SDES technologies are intended for short, high-power discharges, the systems require careful management and planning for continuous and reliable operation. They aren’t known to be “set it and forget it.” Medium-Duration Energy Storage Medium-duration storage solutions are intended to provide electricity for four to ten hours, bridging the gap between short- and long-duration storage needs. Examples of medium-duration energy storage technologies include flow batteries, zinc bromine, nickel hydrogen, and liquid metal. Of these technologies some can discharge for less than four hours or more than ten hours, but there is a specific set of grid-related needs that these technologies are able to fill. For the grid, medium-duration storage technologies are useful to store wind energy generated in the night to be used the next day, roughly eight to twelve hours later. By storing excess energy during high production periods, medium-duration storages allow for a more even distribution of renewable power throughout the day. Basically, they can provide the load shifting component of short-duration storage but for longer. For other applications like industrials, medium-duration energy storage is very useful when it can be stored and managed behind the meter. An example of this could be an electric arc furnace (EAF) at a steel mill with an onsite solar and storage system. With the right technology the battery can capture wind energy at night and solar energy at peak sunlight to provide the furnace high power and high energy throughout the day. The advantages of medium-duration energy systems include that they can store a lot of electricity in a relatively compact space, and they can be used to meet a wide range of applications. They also tend to have higher up-front costs than lithium-ion systems, which is offset by significantly longer service lives. Also, some have high self-discharge rates which prevents them from storing energy for longer periods. It’s worth noting that while lithium-ion batteries can technically be used for medium-duration storage needs, most project developers and utilities consider them too expensive for these applications for the time being. Long-Duration Energy Storage While there’s generally wide agreement on definitions of short and medium duration storage, there is more ambiguity when it comes to long-duration storage. Depending on who you talk to, long-duration energy storage (LDES) is defined as anywhere from 10–168 hours (168 hours = 1 week). This category includes technologies that balance seasonal variations in renewable energy production and can provide power during prolonged grid disruptions. Examples of LDES include flow batteries, iron-air, hydrogen storage, compressed air energy storage (CAES), and thermal storage systems. These systems are engineered to store vast amounts of energy over extended periods. For example, hydrogen storage converts surplus electricity into hydrogen gas through electrolysis. The hydrogen gas is stored for use in fuel cells that can produce electricity at a much later time. Compressed air energy storage uses electricity to power a compressor, which takes atmospheric air and compresses it into an underground cavern. Upon discharge – days, weeks, or even months later – the compressed air is released and drives a turbine, generating electricity. LDES enables a consistent and reliable supply of renewable electricity throughout the year, reducing dependence on fossil fuels. It is also vital during natural disasters and system failures when people still need power. Regarding its potential to serve as baseload energy, which is the minimum amount of constant power that a utility must supply to meet customer demand, LDES is not typically considered a direct replacement for traditional baseload power sources like coal, nuclear, or gas. Instead, it’s viewed as a complementary technology that enables the integration of renewable energy sources, which can become the new form of baseload power through their enhanced reliability facilitated by storage. As technology advances and costs decrease, the use of LDES alongside renewables could potentially transform the current understanding of baseload power. Renewables, backed by LDES, could increasingly take on roles traditionally filled by coal, nuclear, or gas plants, effectively serving as the new baseload capacity in a cleaner and more flexible manner. However, this transformation depends on technological advancements, economic factors, and regulatory support. Long-duration energy storage is ideal for grid-scale applications and addressing long-term needs. The issue becomes the infrastructure needed for these systems and the efficiency losses when converting stored energy into electricity. Some technologies such as iron-air have very low efficiencies between when the energy is stored and when it’s released. The specialized facilities and transmission lines needed for these systems also make widespread deployment challenging. And most LDES technologies have fixed discharge rates that make them ideal for delivering consistent energy over long periods, but unsuitable for meeting the needs served by short and medium duration technologies. Other Terms You May Encounter The United States Department of Energy uses a different set of definitions when talking about energy storage durations, as follows: Short duration:                                 0-4 hours Inter-day LDES:                              10-36 hours Multi-day / week LDES:             36-160 hours Seasonal shifting:                         160+ hours Source: United State Department of Energy You may note that there’s no definition for anything between 4 and 10 hours. While it’s likely safe to assume that the DOE would also consider this medium-duration storage, there’s also a chance that it was left undefined due to lack of clear market interest in these durations. Innovative Battery Technology Renewable energy is poised to play a major role in lowering greenhouse gas emissions, especially with the shift to electric heating and transportation. Short-, medium-, and long-duration energy storage are all important in balancing low and high demand energy periods, the use of renewable energy sources, and grid resiliency. Continued innovation is key to the future of energy storage. Alternative battery solutions that offer lower cost, a wider range of durations, and reduced environmental impact hold immense promise for hitting net-zero mandates worldwide. Alsym batteries can be used for any discharge duration from 4 to 110 hours, and can recharge in as few as 4 hours. This means Alsym batteries can easily be used for short, medium, and long-duration storage without the need for additional technologies (we call this wide-duration storage). They combine high energy and high round-trip efficiency with a minimal footprint to offer low, industry-leading levelized cost of storage (LCOS). And unlike some dedicated long-duration storage technologies which lose 40% of charge per month, Alsym batteries have high long-term energy retention similar to lithium-ion. Learn more about what Alsym is doing to enable the next generation of “wide-duration” energy storage. --- ## The Danger of Lithium-Ion Batteries in Cities and Suburbs URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/the-danger-of-lithium-ion-batteries-in-cities-and-suburbs/ How to avoid the perfect storm of toxic smoke, rapidly spreading fires, and limited firefighting capabilities presented by lithium battery fires. Energy storage systems have gained a lot of attention in recent years — and so have the enormous safety risks of using lithium-ion batteries. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) play a vital role in transitioning to a cleaner energy future by providing grid stability, increasing the efficiency of renewable energy sources, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. As the use of lithium-ion batteries grows, so does the immense fear surrounding their ability to catch fire and release toxic chemicals, especially in areas with high population density. Lithium-Ion Battery Fires and Fears Lithium-ion batteries are notorious for containing highly flammable and toxic materials. The hazards associated with these batteries are significant as they can catch fire when they fail, releasing poisonous gases and chemicals into the air. Around 40 known fires have occurred within large-scale lithium-ion BESS as of 2021. Thermal runaway is a common cause of fires in a BESS, occurring when a battery cell generates heat faster than it can dissipate it. This excess heat leads to a dynamic temperature increase in the cell, affecting neighboring cells and resulting in a positive feedback loop. The causes of thermal runaway can be internal defects, mechanical damage, exposure to external heat sources, overvoltage charging, or malfunction of the battery management system. When lithium-ion batteries go into thermal runaway, they can emit deadly gases such as hydrogen fluoride and carbon monoxide for hours without catching fire. When they ignite, the smoke and chemicals released (including hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen chloride) can lead to respiratory problems for those living or working near the BESS. The heat generated by the fire can also cause structural damage to nearby buildings and homes. Extinguishing lithium-ion fires is challenging because they burn at extremely high temperatures, and their hazardous fumes make it difficult for firefighters to approach them. But the bigger issue is that once the initial flames are extinguished, first responders must continue flooding the system with water until the remaining cells are cool enough to prevent re-ignition. As reported by NBC News, with the number of fires caused by lithium batteries soaring across the U.S., firefighters and other experts say the training needed to fight them effectively is lagging in many places. Increasingly, the direction from fire chiefs is to let the fires burn themselves out rather than make any attempt to extinguish them, which can last for days or even weeks while emitting harmful toxins into the air. What Happened in Warwick, NY? Two fires involving lithium-ion batteries occurred in Warwick, NY, in early July. The first fire occurred at Convergent Energy and Power’s location on County Route 1. It started during a storm and burned for three days. The fire was near three schools, the district bus garage, and athletic fields. Officials declared a halt to all school activities, and nearby residents had to shelter in place with their windows closed. Fire officials allowed the fire to burn out rather than try to extinguish them with water. The second incident involved fumes emitted from a storage site on Church Street Extension. Warwick Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton told News 12 Westchester that lithium-ion battery incidents should give state officials pause as there’s an apparent need to step back and evaluate the safety precautions. Both situations have raised concerns about community safety and prompted discussions about the potential risks associated with battery storage facilities. Following the fires, first responders asserted they hadn’t received any training from the manufacturer or system operator. The public also came together and questioned whether they had received accurate information about the presence of the facilities and the associated dangers. What Could Go Wrong? The convergence of flammable battery technology, inadequate first responder training, and a perplexing choice of location had the potential for a catastrophic disaster. Fortunately, due to the timing of the Warwick incident and the absence of students, no injuries were reported. Contemplating what could have transpired had the fire occurred just a month prior — when school was still in session — evokes a chilling realization of how drastically different the outcome could have been. Consider the possibilities in a downtown area. As a lithium-ion battery fire rages, the smoke and fumes released into the air pose a significant health risk to the surrounding population. The intense heat generated by lithium-ion blazes could cause nearby structures to catch fire, leading to a cascade of secondary fires and increased property damage. Winds could fuel the spread of the flames, making it challenging for firefighters to contain the intensity and protect surrounding buildings. The perfect storm of toxic smoke, rapidly spreading fires, and limited firefighting capabilities would create a volatile and potentially devastating situation for the area affected by the battery fire. New Technologies Researchers are creating innovative battery chemistries with safety and reliability in mind, to better suit the conditions of densely populated areas. To eliminate the risk of thermal runaway, a non-flammable electrolyte is essential. In addition, by focusing on non-toxic batteries with a longer lifespan, a more durable and sustainable option becomes available. Manufacturers are creating alternative batteries that can last for decades with minimal maintenance and replacement, which maximizes the return on investment. Innovators also consider the demand for high energy density and vast temperature range operation, ensuring the new battery chemistries are suitable for various applications and environments. When planning storage installations in urbanized areas, it’s vital to use battery chemistries that aren’t combustible and won’t damage the environment to ensure safety plus avoid potential hazards. Adopting such solutions can lower the risk of fires and other concerns while providing the benefits of dependable and affordable energy storage. The time has come to break the myth that alternatives aren’t ready. The technology is available, and it’s up to industry leaders to switch to safer battery chemistries before more events like Warwick occur. --- ## New DoD battery restrictions highlight need for innovation URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/new-dod-battery-restrictions-highlight-need-for-innovation/ What a difference a decade can make. For decades, the natural resource of top geopolitical importance was oil. Now, as emissions reduction efforts take hold around the world, the United States government is increasingly concerned about the essential mineral supply chains that power green energy technologies. The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024 (FY2024 NDAA), passed by Congress in December, is the government’s strongest stance on essential minerals we’ve seen so far. As the primary means by which Congress oversees the defense budget, the annual NDAA specifies conditions for the budget and expenditures for the year. The FY2024 NDAA notably introduces many new prohibitions on DoD procurement and expands existing ones. These limitations are designed to reduce the defense industry’s reliance on Congressionally-identified “countries of concern.” They also align with the renewed focus on buying from American entities in national spending bills. Legislators believe that prohibiting the use of DoD funds to procure batteries produced by Asian companies will help the U.S. achieve mineral independence. But as battery industry trends will show, creating new supply chains for the technology, particularly lithium-ion, will take more than just a declaration by Congress. This is why critical mineral independence is so important. Alongside the prohibitions, the FY2024 NDAA tasks the Under Secretary for Acquisition and Sustainment to create a strategy for developing supply chains that do not depend on countries of concern by 2035. But it’s important that both government and industry understand the scale of what Congress is asking, and recognize the significant hurdles associated with creating alternative lithium battery supply chains. Congress is leveraging its huge bargaining power in the defense sector to encourage reduced reliance on foreign sources and spur the development of alternative supply chains. However, the U.S. is simply not equipped to meet the resulting increase in market demand for more rechargeable batteries. The United States holds 3.6% of estimated global lithium reserves. But ramping up domestic lithium mining operations from just one lithium mine, the Silver Peak mine in Clayton Valley, Nevada, will be a massive undertaking. And that doesn’t account for processing or manufacturing. Barring a miracle, it’s unlikely there will be any significant domestic lithium production by October 2027, when the FY2024 NDAA battery prohibitions go into effect. It’s not just lithium, either. Cobalt, another important component of high-performance lithium-ion batteries, has its own fragile supply chain. Nickel presents its set of domestic sourcing and processing challenges as well. The best long-term solution for the battery supply chain is to reduce our dependence on these minerals altogether by supporting battery diversity. New high-performance battery chemistries are in development that do not rely on lithium, cobalt, or nickel. Instead, they leverage sets of more abundant materials that can be sourced from a variety of countries, including many friendly to U.S. interests. These alternative chemistries can include sodium-ion, liquid metal, sodium-sulfur, and zinc-ion batteries. The sweeping FY2024 NDAA prohibitions don’t go into effect until 2027. At that point the DoD will be prohibited from procuring batteries produced by any entity on a list of specified manufacturers that are responsible for the vast majority of global lithium battery supply. Batteries are considered “produced” by one entity that assembles, manufactures, or provides most of the components for the final product. Now is the time to invest in alternative battery technologies. Lithium has undeniably played an important role in the progress we’ve made with decarbonization so far. But if the U.S. is to have any shot at critical mineral independence, government and industry alike must agree to curtail lithium-ion demand and start looking towards the stable, sustainable future powered by emerging battery technologies. --- ## Powering Our World: The Race for Critical Materials in a Time of Change URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/powering-our-world-the-race-for-critical-materials-in-a-time-of-change/ From smartphones to wind turbines, critical materials power our lives. But what are they, and what makes them so critical? Consumers may recognize certain critical materials from their everyday lives. For example, many people associate lithium with its use in electric cars and consumer electronic batteries. While consumers generally know what devices critical materials go into, they tend to be less aware of the source of these materials. We can’t create materials like lithium by artificial means. We can only mine them. Critical materials are also not evenly distributed across the planet. For many critical minerals and compounds, just a few mining operations in a handful of countries serve the entire global economy. As these materials play an increasingly vital role in the clean energy economy and national security of the United States, it’s become of great importance to understand their supply chains. Because many materials can only come from a few places, those supply chains are subject to serious geopolitical and economic risks. Assessing which materials are both critical for energy technology and vulnerable to supply chain disruptions helps inform our national strategy for maintaining energy security, keeping industries on track to decarbonize and deploy clean energy solutions. What are critical materials? In 2023, the United States Department of Energy released its final list of critical materials for energy through 2035. These indispensable minerals and other compounds each serve an essential function in energy technologies and have a high risk of supply chain disruption. Materials included on the final list include aluminum, cobalt, copper, fluorine, iridium, lithium, magnesium, nickel, platinum, silicon, and silicon carbide. The list aligns with the national push towards clean energy. Clean energy technology is required for the decarbonization measures needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as set forth in the Paris Agreement in 2015. Critical materials are thus of prime economic and national importance to develop the economy and mitigate the effects of climate change. Numerous technologies that power modern life rely on critical materials. Consumer electronics, electric vehicles, and uninterrupted power supply (UPS) devices all rely on lithium-ion batteries. Electric vehicle manufacturers also include between 6 and 12 kilograms of cobalt in each NMC electric vehicle battery. We’re increasingly mining rare earths to use as magnets in electric vehicles and wind turbines. It’s important to note that critical materials lists aren’t static. Because they’re tied to emerging technologies, we should expect the materials contained in these lists to change over time. The DOE’s 2023 list is a good prediction for what materials will be critical for energy over the next 11 years. But as with all predictions, the DOE will need to revise it periodically. Critical materials lists The Department of Energy’s list isn’t the only influential list of critical materials. Distinct geopolitical and economic factors will cause countries and organizations to have different critical materials lists. The U.S. Geological Survey maintains its own list, updated in 2022, of 50 critical minerals. The list of mineral commodities critical to U.S. economic and national security is based on a multi-agency assessment as well as a review of more than 1,000 comments from the public, local and state officials, and other stakeholders. The European Commission’s current list of critical raw materials, by comparison, contains 34 elements and other compounds that face structural vulnerabilities in their supply chains. All material and mineral lists recognize that for many resources, one or a few countries tend to dominate mining. For instance, China’s rare earth mining accounts for about 60% of all global output and 85–90% of processed rare earths and magnet output. Cobalt mining takes place primarily in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and about 80% of processing happens in China. The E.U. notes that Turkey provides nearly all of its supply of boron, while South Africa provides 71% of its platinum and an even higher share of platinum group metals. This kind of concentrated production creates risks. Anything from a natural disaster to a major diplomatic incident to full-out war in the source country could leave import-dependent countries exposed. Critical mineral recycling One way to reduce a country’s reliance on imports for critical minerals is recycling. Many countries already recycle some critical minerals. Platinum group metals have a recycling rate of 60% globally. Nickel, silver, and copper have a global recycling rate of more than 40%. Some countries recycle aluminum at a rate of over 90%. Recycling is no panacea, though. For recycling to be a significant source of critical minerals in a marketplace, there needs to be sufficient volume in the system. Lithium recycling from electric cars, for example, has yet to make meaningful progress because most vehicles haven’t reached their end of life. Demand for minerals like lithium is also skyrocketing. It would take many decades for a robust secondary lithium market to form, given current demand growth. Additionally, there are major technical obstacles to overcome for large-scale lithium recycling to be feasible. The full lithium-ion battery recycling process requires several intermediate recycling technologies. Recyclers must dismantle spent batteries and perform several physical, chemical, hydrometallurgical, and pyrometallurgical steps to recover valuable materials with high purity. Each of these steps is energy-intense and has its own underlying challenges. These challenges mean that countries cannot yet rely on lithium-ion recycling to meaningfully contribute to larger energy security goals. Geopolitical concerns about critical minerals More than any specific country’s politics, energy markets face inherent risks when a single country dominates critical mineral markets. Diversification is an important risk-hedging strategy in practically all supply chains, including those touching critical mineral markets. China is a leading player in the clean energy economy and present on virtually all critical minerals lists, responsible for about 60% of the world’s critical mineral production and 85% of processing. The country also has a near-monopoly on lithium, germanium, and cobalt. Geopolitical developments such as trade disputes could cause major supply chain issues, leading to shortages of critical minerals and the essential technologies that depend on them for the U.S., Europe, and their allies. The Alsym alternative At Alsym, we’ve developed the next generation of battery technology that bypasses the inherent fragility of critical material supply chains, as well as the performance and safety issues associated with lithium-ion batteries. We believe the best way to manage the geopolitical risks associated with lithium mining is to avoid lithium altogether. Our high-performance battery technology uses only globally abundant, readily accessible materials. This approach allows for more robust, diverse battery supply chains. It also minimizes the environmental impact associated with extracting, processing, and transporting critical minerals, and enables a more streamlined, simplified recycling process. As clean energy advocates, we’re committed to creating a path to decarbonization that also maintains energy security. Critical materials: Challenges and solutions We should all expect to hear a lot more about critical materials as the race for clean energy continues to ramp up. As matters of economic and national security, critical materials will increasingly drive geopolitical decision-making. Innovative solutions that diversify supply chains and reduce our reliance on critical materials will be a key component to ensuring energy security. With developments like non-lithium energy storage technology from Alsym, more responsible use of critical materials is moving within grasp. --- ## Grid Scale Energy Storage: An In-Depth Look URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/an-in-depth-look-at-grid-scale-energy-storage-systems/ With 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions coming from energy, there’s a universal need to make our power system as clean and cost-effective as possible. Renewable energy sources like solar and wind are excellent options, but they’re intermittent by nature, meaning they’re effective only when the sun is shining and the wind blowing. To overcome this challenge, grid-scale energy storage systems are being connected to the power grid to store excess electricity at times when it’s plentiful and then release it when the grid is under periods of especially high demand. Deployments of these systems have increased dramatically over the last several years, to 17 Gigawatts at the end of 2023—enough to power approximately thirteen million homes. The role of energy storage in accelerating our transition to renewables is why Alsym Energy is developing a high-performance, low-cost and non-flammable battery focusing on grid-scale battery storage. What Is Grid-Scale Battery Storage? When asked to define grid-scale energy storage, it’s important to start by explaining what “grid-scale” means. Grid-scale generally indicates the size and capacity of energy storage and generation facilities, as well as how the battery is used. The size of a battery storage facility is its standard physical dimensions, and the capacity is the amount of electricity the facility can put out and store, measured in kilowatt hours (kWh), megawatt hours (MWh), gigawatt hours (GWh), and at some point in the future terawatt hours (TWh). Grid-scale is different in terms of battery size and use cases than residential scale or commercial and industrial scale. Here is a breakdown of the differences between the three main levels of energy storage systems: Residential systems: Homeowners can install solar panels on their roofs and pair their onsite generation with a personal battery, typically sited in their garage, basement, or another discrete location. Common ranges of residential battery systems are from 3kWh to 15kWh, and the most common use cases include load shifting and backup power during outages. Commercial systems: These systems are larger, powering businesses, hospitals, and schools. Some larger battery systems are making their way into manufacturing plants which have very high power demands. They store up to several megawatts of power and are found usually alongside parking lots. These are often part of private microgrids that may also include chemical generation (diesel generators or fuel cells) or renewable generation (solar and wind), and tie in to the public grid. Grid-scale systems: These are the biggest batteries, often over a hundred megawatts in capacity. Grid-scale systems are typically managed by utilities or independent power producers (IPPs) and can supply entire regions with electricity. The most popular use cases for grid-scale energy storage systems are peak shaving, frequency regulation, and arbitrage, although that list is expanding into new applications. There are behind-the-meter (BTM) and front-of-the-meter (FTM) energy storage systems, and it’s important to know the difference. BTM systems generate and use energy directly on-site without passing through an electric meter. BTM systems can still be connected to the electric grid but manage the renewable and storage systems independently from it. They include home solar panels with on-site energy storage, and microgrids. FTM interacts with the central power grid, including generation facilities like coal, gas, wind, solar, and geothermal plants, utility-sized energy storage facilities, and transmission and distribution lines. Today’s systems using lithium-ion batteries are different from those pumped hydro, compressed air, or gravity because they are fast, providing power almost instantly when needed. They are also scalable if there’s a need for expansion. Batteries are also portable, unlike other storage systems that need to be on mountaintops or in underground tunnels. Grid-Scale Batteries There are several different types of grid-scale batteries, and each has their own applications and specifications, including: Lithium-ion battery energy storage systems are the most common electrochemical battery and can store large amounts of energy. Examples of products on the market include the Tesla Megapack and Fluence Gridstack. Flow batteries for grid-scale energy storage collect energy in liquid electrolytes, have a long cycle life, and are scalable. Popular examples are the vanadium redox battery (VRB) and iron-flow battery. Sodium-sulfur (NaS) batteries are known for energy efficiency and the ability to withstand many charging cycles. The NaS battery from NGK Insulators is one example. Advanced lead-acid batteries are improved versions of traditional batteries and offer better performance. They include technologies like absorbent glass mat (AGM) and gel batteries. A battery energy storage system comes together through a number of industry players. The building block of energy storage systems are battery cells, produced by major global companies like CATL, BYD, and LG Energy Solution. These battery cells are then integrated into systems of varying size by integrators such as Fluence and Powin and outfitted with a battery management system (BMS), thermal regulation equipment, and other operation-critical components. From here, a developer or installer designs and deploys the energy storage system, including the battery containers, control systems, and grid connections including transformers and inverters, which are typically manufactured by companies unrelated to the battery itself. The developers integrate components into functional grid-scale energy storage solutions. Efficiency and Lifespan Grid-scale batteries have a round-trip efficiency (RTE) measurement, which shows the energy lost during storage and retrieval, usually 70–90%. Lithium-ion batteries reach an industry-high RTE of 90%+, lead-acid measures about 70%, flow batteries are around 50–75%, and metal-air designs can be as low as 40%. A crucial component to the cost-effectiveness of a battery is mitigating the energy wasted during charge and discharge. The lifespan of a grid-scale battery depends on its chemistry, how long the battery has been used, and how often it’s charged and discharged. Applications of lithium-ion batteries in grid-scale energy storage systems last about 10–15 years. Lead-acid is between 5–10 years. Another factor is where the batteries are stored, as batteries kept in higher or very low temperatures can experience a shorter lifespan. Benefits of Grid-Scale Battery Storage Energy systems that use grid-scale battery storage are more reliable, efficient, and environmentally friendly. A top benefit is the ability to stabilize the grid during fluctuations from renewable sources. They store energy during low demand, like the sunny afternoon or a windy night, and then release that energy during peak demand times. A grid-scale battery also regulates frequency by responding quickly to changes in generation and demand, which leads to cost savings. Another advantage is blending renewable energy sources into the grid. Weather can be unpredictable and therefore so is the power generated by it. A grid-scale battery stores energy when there’s no wind and the sun isn’t out. Batteries maximize the use of renewable energy and help move away from fossil fuels. Grid-scale batteries can also provide a crucial backup system during outages or emergencies. They provide power to essential services like communication networks, hospitals, and emergency services, making sure they are always operational. Grid-scale battery storage balances supply and demand, improves dependability, lowers costs, and ultimately offers a sustainable energy solution. Barriers to Grid Energy Storage There are some obstacles standing in the way of increased adoption of grid-scale energy storage, including: Material availability: Both the EV and the grid-scale energy sectors rely on the same materials, like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. Further, only a handful of companies control the lithium-ion battery supply for both segments. Thermal runaway and toxicity: While lithium-ion batteries are very good at storing and discharging energy, they pose extremely dangerous hazards such as the potential to go into thermal runaway and to release toxic fumes during fire incidents. As a result, strict safety protocols and regulation challenges have arisen. Duration challenges: In general different technologies can only discharge cost-effectively for a specific time window. For lithium-ion batteries it’s 6 hours or less. For iron-air batteries it’s 100 hours or more. Discharge duration needs change as the grid evolves and battery technology will need to evolve as well. The Future of Grid Energy Storage Startups are leading the charge with non-lithium battery chemistries to overcome the barriers above and promise a safer, more affordable, greener future. Many integrators are “chemistry agnostic,” meaning they’re prepared for the next wave of battery technologies. Alsym Energy has developed a cost-effective, high-performance, rechargeable battery technology that doesn’t use cobalt or lithium. It leverages readily available materials that are non-flammable and non-toxic. Alternative battery chemistries like Alsym’s are designed with affordability in mind to ensure everyone has access to clean energy. There’s an urgent need for low-cost, clean energy solutions to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and mitigate the far-reaching impacts of climate change. The intermittent nature of renewable energy sources requires a backup plan. Grid-scale energy storage is vital for the future of renewable energy and to meet the changing demands of the grid. Alsym’s innovators are on the case by working to develop a novel battery technology for a sustainable tomorrow. --- ## Renewable Energy Strategies in Extreme Weather URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/renewable-energy-strategies-in-extreme-weather/ Extreme weather events are happening more often and to a greater degree worldwide. In 2023, the U.S. experienced 28 separate weather and climate disasters totaling $92.9 billion in damages. Beyond monetary costs, natural disasters  (such as the wildfire on Maui Island, Hawaii) strain all critical systems that rely on modern energy infrastructure. Energy systems are essential to services like hospitals, water treatment plants, and transportation networks and robust new energy strategies are vital as extreme weather incidents threaten their continuous operation. Balancing Renewable Energy Sources There are many reasons why fossil fuel power plants are being retired and renewable energy sources are taking their place. While fossil fuel power plants are well-established, it’s become evident reliance on a single generation source has clear drawbacks. The February 2021 freeze in Texas is a key example, where natural gas drilling and transport infrastructure failed due to unexpected frigid temperatures, taking power plants offline and leaving people without power for four days. On the other side of the coin, solar, wind, hydropower, and geothermal energy sources are decentralized examples of renewable energy that leverage natural power but can suffer from intermittency. Solar accounted for 45% of all new electricity-generating capacity added to the U.S. grid in the first half of 2023, signaling the shift. However, when there is a higher risk of total system failure, one renewable resource may not be enough during an extreme weather event. Deploying multiple sources that can balance each other out when fluctuations happen has advantages. For example, solar energy is less effective during cloudy periods, but wind turbines can continue producing power. As extreme weather events become more common and severe, robust energy infrastructure will be crucial for grid stability. Diverse renewable sources and grid resilience measures are pivotal for clean energy and reliable electricity during severe storms or wildfires. Smart Grids Boost Efficiency The International Energy Agency (IEA) describes smart grids as electricity networks that use digital technologies, sensors, and software to match electricity supply and demand in real time, cutting energy costs while ensuring grid stability. Real-time information allows operators to understand energy generation, consumption patterns, and overall grid conditions. Artificial intelligence (AI) is also playing a role by making the smart grid even smarter. Smart grids optimize the grid through demand response, cybersecurity, predictive maintenance, and other new and significant ways. With respect to energy storage, smart grids enable the energy system to automatically store excess energy during sunny or windy days, for example, when power generation is high. That stored energy can be released back into the grid to meet the demand during low renewable energy production periods. Smart grids allow longer duration energy storage technologies, such as pumped hydro, to charge at times when renewables might otherwise be curtailed. Longer duration energy storage can then play a key part of the strategy by providing backup power for multiple days during an outage. During extreme weather events like hurricanes, smart grids help maintain electricity while minimizing disruptions. Real-time monitoring can detect power outages or any damage that could happen to grid infrastructure. Automated responses can reroute power, isolate affected areas, and prioritize critical services like emergency centers. A Resilient Renewable Energy Future Comprehensive renewable energy strategies are becoming increasingly important in the face of extreme weather events. As storms, wildfires, and natural disasters become more frequent and severe, the weaknesses presented by relying on centralized and polluting fossil fuel power systems become more pronounced. The shift to renewable energy goes beyond the environmental impacts. It changes the energy landscape to be sustainable, decentralized, and resilient, and it is of particular importance to regions most susceptible to the impacts of climate change. Investing in multiple renewable sources, creating smart grid networks, and using energy storage systems can all help the energy transition. Extreme weather events have moved into the inevitable, but grid stability can be achieved with the help of abundant, renewable sources and energy storage systems leveraging high performance battery chemistries. --- ## A Guide to Battery Energy Storage Tax Credits in 2024 URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/a-guide-to-battery-energy-storage-tax-credits-in-2024/ Energy storage systems are technologies that store energy from the electrical grid for later use. These systems can take various forms, including batteries, pumped hydro, flywheels, and thermal storage. Among the types of battery storage technology, lithium-ion batteries are common. Renewable energy sources like solar and wind are intermittent by nature. Solar panels generate electricity only during daylight hours, and their output can vary with cloud cover. Similarly, wind turbine generation depends on weather conditions. Battery energy storage systems, or BESS, are crucial pieces of renewable energy systems because they can store excess energy generated during peak production times and release it later when demand is high and generation assets are at maximum capacity. This facilitates a steadier clean energy supply and enhances the stability and reliability of the power grid. As the demand for clean energy continues to rise, energy storage systems will be key to ensuring that renewable sources can meet this demand consistently and effectively. A number of financing mechanisms have been developed to accelerate their adoption – in particular, tax credits. This guide unpacks the tax credits for battery storage included in the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). What is the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Credit for Battery Storage?  The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 marked a significant step forward for the United States in its efforts to combat climate change and promote clean energy. Among the many provisions of the IRA, the introduction of battery storage system tax credits stands out as a major incentive for individuals and businesses looking to invest in energy storage solutions. These battery storage system tax credits aim to accelerate the adoption of energy storage technologies. By providing substantial financial incentives, the IRA not only makes energy storage more economically viable but also underscores the critical role that these systems play in transitioning to a more sustainable energy future. Solar and Storage Projects Under the IRA Historically, there were only federal tax credits for solar battery storage. This meant that battery storage systems installed independently or added to existing solar systems did not qualify for these incentives. The IRA has changed this by allowing standalone projects to qualify for federal tax incentives for battery storage systems, making it easier and more financially attractive to invest in these storage systems without needing to pair them with new solar installations. Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for Solar Panels The ITC is a crucial incentive that has supported the growth of solar energy in the United States. It provides a percentage-based tax credit for solar battery storage systems. Under the IRA, the ITC has been extended and enhanced, ensuring continued support for solar energy projects. Transferability of Tax Credits under the IRA The IRA simplifies investment in clean energy projects by introducing the transferability of tax credits. This provision significantly enhances the flexibility and attractiveness of these investments. Previously, the benefits of tax credits were limited to the entities directly investing in or developing clean energy projects. These entities needed sufficient tax liability to utilize the credits fully, which often limited participation to larger, profitable companies. The IRA allows clean energy tax credits to be transferred or sold to third parties. This means that if a project developer cannot use the full value of the tax credits, they can sell them to another entity that can. This flexibility simplifies financing structures and makes it easier for a broader range of investors to participate in clean energy projects. By creating a secondary market for tax credits, the IRA increases the liquidity of these financial instruments, making clean energy investments more attractive and reducing the cost of capital. Knowing that tax credits can be sold provides developers with greater financial certainty and stability, encouraging more projects to move forward from planning to implementation. What is the Battery Storage Tax Credit for 2024? The IRA includes several provisions aimed at incentivizing Americans to adopt energy storage systems through tax credits. These battery storage technology tax credits are available to both residential and commercial entities, to facilitate a wider spread of clean energy development. 1. Residential Homeowners can take advantage of the Residential Clean Energy Credit, which provides a tax credit for battery storage systems with a capacity of at least 3 kilowatt-hours (kWh). This credit covers 30% of the associated cost, including installation expenses. The credit is available for systems installed between 2023 and 2032, gradually decreasing after 2032. As part of the effort to reach clean energy goals, some states and utility organizatons also offer incentives for adopting clean energy solutions. So not only will the IRA provide tax credits for clean energy installs, but more money can then be saved through these initiatives. 2. Commercial/Grid-scale There is also a investment tax credit for larger energy storage projects. The Section 48 Investment Tax Credit offers businesses a similar 30% base tax credit for energy storage systems under 1 MW, or over 1 MW if certain apprenticeship and wage requirements are met. At this level additional adders are also available for using domestic content and siting the project in an energy community, to boost the tax credit up to 70%. The ITC is available for systems placed in service before or on January 1, 2025. After that date the Clean Electricity Production Tax Credit and the Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit will replace the traditional PTC / ITC. By lowering the upfront costs, this credit encourages businesses to integrate energy storage into their asset portfolio, promoting a more resilient and sustainable energy infrastructure. Do Storage Batteries Qualify for Solar Tax Credits? Yes, standalone battery storage now qualifies for the 30% Residential Clean Energy Credit, introduced in 2023 under the IRA. This significant change means homeowners can receive a 30% tax credit for the installation of battery storage systems, even if they are not paired with new solar panels. The inclusion of standalone battery storage under this credit greatly enhances the financial viability and attractiveness of investing in these systems. Benefits of Battery Storage for Home Energy Purchasing and installing a solar and storage system offers homeowners a range of benefits: Backup Power: Provides a reliable source of electricity during power outages, ensuring continuity for essential appliances and systems in your home. Taking Advantage of Time-of-Use (ToU) Rates: Allows homeowners to store energy when rates are low and use it during peak times when electricity costs are higher, resulting in significant savings on energy bills. Increasing Consumption of Solar Energy: Enhances the efficiency and utility of solar panels by storing excess energy generated during the day for use at night or on cloudy days, maximizing the use of renewable energy and reducing reliance on the grid. Do Lithium Batteries Qualify for Tax Credits? Yes, lithium batteries do qualify for the tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), with the potential for additional federal tax incentives for battery storage systems that can increase the credit up to 40%. Lithium batteries are eligible for the 30% Residential Clean Energy Credit, with an additional 10% tax credit if the energy storage system meets specific domestic content requirements. To qualify for this add-on, the system must adhere to guidelines ensuring that materials and manufacturing processes are sourced in the United States. Systems that incorporate lithium batteries or other components manufactured outside of the United States are unlikely to qualify. Benefits of the IRA The federal tax credits for battery storage introduced in the IRA represent a significant opportunity for homeowners and businesses to invest in clean energy technologies. By reducing the upfront costs of energy storage systems, these tax credits make it more affordable to enhance energy security, improve grid stability, and reduce environmental impact. As more Americans adopt energy storage, the United States will be better positioned to achieve its renewable energy goals and build a more sustainable future. From homeowners looking to reduce energy bills to businesses aiming to enhance operational resilience, now is the time to explore the benefits of battery storage for home energy and take advantage of these valuable tax incentives. The IRA allows Americans to enjoy financial savings and energy security, in a crucial step toward a cleaner, more sustainable energy landscape for future generations. Learn more about Alsym Energy’s high-performance, non-flammable battery solutions --- ## Solid-State Battery vs Lithium-Ion: What’s the Difference? URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/solid-state-battery-vs-lithium-ion/ In the dynamic landscape of battery energy storage, two contenders vie for supremacy: Solid-State Battery vs Lithium-Ion. These powerhouses fuel our devices, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems. But what truly sets them apart? Buckle up as we delve into the science, safety, and market dynamics that define their rivalry. From electrolytes to longevity, let’s explore the electrifying differences and learn how Alsym is helping to change the future of energy. Solid State Battery vs Lithium Ion: Unraveling the Differences As you know, the battery landscape is undergoing a revolution with the emergence of solid-state technology, challenging the dominant reign of lithium-ion batteries. But what are the key differentiators between a solid-state battery and a lithium-ion battery? Well, the main difference lies in their electrolyte composition but instead of focusing on the difference right away, let’s dive deeper to understand these batteries. Electrolyte Composition: Lithium-Ion Battery: Use a liquid electrolyte to conduct lithium ions between the cathode and anode. Solid-State Battery: Employ a solid electrolyte instead of a liquid, resulting in a lighter overall weight and higher energy density. Energy Density: Solid-State Battery: These can pack up to twice as much energy as lithium-ion batteries, especially when replacing the anode with a smaller alternative. Lithium-Ion Battery: These have lower energy density compared to solid-state batteries. Longer Lifespan: Solid-State Battery: Their solid electrolytes are less reactive, leading to longer lifespans. Lithium-Ion Battery: Typically has a limited number of charge cycles. Safety: Solid-State Battery: Safer due to reduced risk of thermal incidents. Lithium-Ion Battery: Prone to safety issues like overheating, swelling, and fires. Market Dominance: Solid-State Batteries: Offer advantages in performance and safety, but lithium-ion batteries remain dominant due to established infrastructure, cost-effectiveness, and continuous optimization. Exploring Alsym’s Non-Lithium Battery Technology Alsym Energy has developed an innovative low-cost, high-performance rechargeable battery chemistry that’s ideal for stationary storage applications. Alsym Energy’s cutting-edge technology avoids many of the issues that surround both traditional and solid-state lithium-ion batteries and uses no lithium or cobalt. By using readily available, inherently non-flammable, and non-toxic materials, we’re working to deliver performance comparable with lithium-ion at a much lower cost, making electrification more affordable for everyone. --- ## Non Lithium Battery Alternatives URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/alternatives-to-lithium-batteries/ Lithium batteries have helped power society’s shift to renewable energy, serving as the industry standard for everything from electric vehicles to grid-scale energy storage. Scientists are continually looking for sustainable non-lithium battery alternatives because lithium-ion batteries come with safety risks and environmental consequences in their production. Lithium batteries are the most widely used rechargeable batteries in today’s technology. They power devices ranging from smartphones to electric cars. These batteries are composed of individual lithium-ion cells and a protective circuit board. The history of lithium-ion battery technology dates back to the 1970s when researchers began exploring the potential of lithium as a battery material due to its low electrochemical potential. In the 1980s, Sony introduced the first commercial lithium-ion batteries using lithium cobalt oxide as the cathode material. Over the years, scientists have developed different cathode materials like lithium iron phosphate (LFP / LiFePO4) and lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) to improve the safety, stability, and energy density of Li-ion batteries. Researchers continue to explore new materials and technologies to enhance the performance of battery technology, aiming to increase energy storage capacity and reduce costs. Here is a look at the challenges of lithium-ion, or Li-ion, and how emerging battery technologies strive to be safer and lower-cost alternatives to lithium batteries while still balancing performance, cost, and environmental impact. What Are Non Lithium Battery Alternatives? As demand for sustainable and efficient energy storage solutions rises, researchers and engineers are exploring lithium alternatives. New promising emerging battery technologies include solid-state lithium batteries, sodium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, and flow batteries. These innovative approaches aim to enhance energy density, improve safety, reduce environmental impact, and lower costs, ultimately shaping the future of battery energy storage systems and electric vehicles. Solid-State Lithium Batteries Instead of a flammable liquid electrolyte, solid-state batteries use a solid electrolyte to reduce the risk of fires caused by thermal runaway. Solid-state batteries can potentially pack more energy into a smaller space, making them useful for applications like EVs where more energy translates to more miles per charge. Solid-state batteries may also exhibit better cycling stability, which is the ability of a battery to maintain its performance and capacity over repeated discharge cycles without significant degradation. They can also operate over a wider temperature range, making them more suitable for extreme environments. Despite recent advancements in solid-state technology, scientists are still trying to find an electrolyte that simultaneously offers high conductivity, stability, and low manufacturing costs. The most promising solid-state battery chemistries have been difficult to scale up for mass production at an affordable price point, and developers need a cost-effective means of manufacturing the batteries before they can be used commercially. While solid-state batteries may be safer when it comes to thermal runaway imposed by normal operation, researchers at Sandia National Labs have concluded that they could pose similar risks as traditional lithium-ion batteries when punctured or crushed. Sodium-Ion Batteries Sodium-ion cells work like lithium-ion, shuttling sodium ions (Na+) instead of lithium ions (Li+), and can be built on existing lithium-ion lines with minor modification. Sodium is the sixth most abundant element in the crust and is not a critical mineral. Sodium-ion cells also use aluminum current collectors on both electrodes, rather than the copper lithium-ion uses. That matters twice over: aluminum trades at roughly a quarter of copper’s price, so one of the costlier line items comes out of the bill of materials entirely, and it allows the cells to be discharged to 0% state of charge for transport and storage. The category splits into three cathode families: layered metal oxide, Prussian blue analogues, and polyanionic. Layered metal oxides have the highest energy density but cycle life in the 3,000 to 4,000 range. Prussian blue analogues have high power density — their open framework moves sodium quickly — but can release hydrogen cyanide at elevated temperatures. Polyanionic chemistries, including sodium iron pyrophosphate (NFPP), trade some energy density for a rigid structure and long life. Thermal performance, including flammability, is a function of the cathode and what it does under stress — not of sodium-ion as a category. Layered oxides release oxygen from the cathode lattice as they decompose, which sustains a runaway reaction much as NMC lithium-ion does. Polyanionic cathodes bind their oxygen in rigid phosphate groups and don’t release it, so there’s no internal oxidizer to feed. That same rigid structure holds its shape through cycling — volume change stays under 4% — which is what gives polyanionic cells their long cycle life. Polyanionic is the chemistry Alsym selected for its Na-Series NFPP+ cells — NFPP with proprietary electrode dopants and electrolyte additives — non-flammable at the chemistry level rather than by system design, so no fire suppression and no thermal management for safety. They deliver 97% cell-level round-trip efficiency, 15,000 cycles over 20+ years, 100% usable capacity, and −40°C to 60°C on passive cooling — a combination well suited to stationary storage deployed across widely different climates. Lithium-Sulfur Batteries Some companies are looking into lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries as a sustainable alternative to Li-ion. Rather than relying on scarce materials like cobalt, Li-S batteries would benefit from the wider availability of sulfur, making them less dependent on limited resources and cheaper to produce. Li-S batteries also have a theoretical energy density several times higher than that of lithium-ion batteries, storing an equal amount of energy in a more lightweight form. However, Li-S batteries tend to degrade more rapidly due to poor cycling stability. Sulfur does not have high electrical conductivity to begin with. It also undergoes significant volume expansion and contraction during charge and discharge, resulting in the dissolution of active material and a loss of charge capacity. Additionally, the chemical reaction between sulfur and lithium results in the formation of compounds that reduce Li-S batteries’ efficiency over time. Further, lithium metal supplants the graphite anode in Li-S batteries. Li metal anodes have a host of other issues associated with dendritic plating, excessive Li consumption in the formation of SEI, and an increased risk of thermal runaway from shorting. Flow Batteries Flow batteries, also known as redox flow batteries, are a type of rechargeable battery where energy is stored in liquid electrolyte solutions that are kept in external tanks, as opposed to conventional batteries where the energy is stored by electrodes within the battery cell itself. Flow batteries consist of two separate tanks of liquid electrolyte solutions. The electrolytes are pumped from these tanks into a cell where they are separated by a membrane. One electrolyte acts as the cathode and the other as the anode. The electrochemical reactions take place in the cell. During the discharge phase (i.e., when energy is being supplied for an external device), electrons are transferred from the anode to the cathode, creating an electric current that oxidizes and reduces the electroactive species in the electrolyte on the respective sides of the cell. During charge, the electroactive species in the anolyte (anode side of the membrane) decreases oxidation state while that of the catholyte (cathode side) increases oxidation state. During the charging phase, an external power source is used to reverse this reaction, replenishing the electrolytes. Flow batteries have a very long cycle life and minimal degradation over time because the energy is stored in the electrolyte rather than in the battery cell itself. Another advantage of flow batteries is that they can be left completely discharged for long periods without suffering any damage, which is not the case with many other types of batteries. They also have a quick response time. Flow batteries have some downsides as well. Their energy density is significantly lower than lithium-ion batteries, meaning they take up more space for the same amount of energy stored. This makes them unsuitable for portable applications, or situations where grid storage is needed in urban or suburban areas. They can also be complex and expensive to manufacture and maintain, as the system involves pumps, sensors, and control units to manage the flow of the electrolyte. Negative Effects of Lithium-Ion Batteries Even though they are promoted as a way to mitigate climate change, lithium-ion batteries cause damage to the environment during their manufacturing. For instance, every ton of lithium extracted through hard-rock mining results in 15 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, the technology uses a narrow set of raw materials — lithium, cobalt, and nickel, among others — controlled by a handful of countries in South America, Asia, and Africa. This far-flung supply chain not only leads to high transportation costs but also results in a number of environmental and ethical issues: • Lithium mining has been associated with accelerating drought and displacing Indigenous populations in countries ranging from Chile to Serbia. • Most of the world’s lithium refining facilities are in China, which is notorious for its abundant use of heavily polluting coal. • Cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo is known for exploiting child labor, displacing residents, and damaging the environment. • Nickel mining in Indonesia has contributed to deforestation, soil erosion, and water pollution. Lithium-ion batteries also pose significant safety risks. Their organic electrolytes have flash points as low as 60 degrees Celsius, and improper use can cause them to overheat. Before a battery cell in thermal runaway actually catches flame, it vents flammable gases such as hydrogen fluoride and carbon monoxide. These toxic vapors can cause an explosion when they ignite, making Li-ion battery fires especially dangerous, even “safer” chemistries like LFP / LiFePO4. Alsym’s NFPP+ Sodium-ion Cells Alsym’s NFPP+ sodium-ion battery cells can be manufactured in the same facilities but at a lower cost than lithium-ion batteries, allowing us to take advantage of existing infrastructure and industry knowledge. While other battery technologies must be produced in costly dry rooms and clean rooms and use toxic solvents that require recovery systems, our batteries can be built with less complexity and increased safety. NFPP+ is built on sodium, iron, and phosphorus — three of the most abundant elements in the Earth’s crust, none of them critical minerals, and none carrying the mining and refining burden that lithium, cobalt, and nickel do. They are produced at scale in many countries, so sourcing does not depend on a narrow set of deposits or a single refining hub. We’re working to make low-cost, non-flammable sodium-ion batteries available to all. Contact us to find out more about the future of sodium-ion batteries for energy storage. --- ## How Are Aqueous And Organic Electrolytes Different? URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/how-are-aqueous-and-organic-electrolytes-different/ Aqueous and organic electrolytes in batteries refer to the medium in which ions move from one electrode to another. The key difference between these two types of electrolytes is the solvent used. Organic Electrolytes These are electrolytes where the solvent is an organic compound, such as ethylene carbonate or diethyl carbonate. They are typically used in lithium-ion batteries. The advantage of organic electrolytes is that they are more stable to electrolytic decomposition and can operate at much higher voltages than aqueous electrolytes, allowing for higher energy densities in their batteries. Suppose a lithium-ion battery is overcharged, overheated, physically damaged, or short-circuited. In that case, it can rapidly increase temperature and pressure inside the battery, potentially resulting in a fire or explosion, by a process known as thermal runaway. Sodium-ion batteries, much like lithium-ion batteries, can potentially enter a state of thermal runaway under certain extreme conditions or from certain external forces. In the case of sodium-ion batteries, the organic electrolytes often used in these batteries can decompose under high heat, potentially leading to the release of flammable gases and further increase in temperature. However, it’s important to note that the onset temperature for thermal runaway in sodium-ion batteries might be different from that in lithium-ion batteries due to the differences in the materials used. Aqueous Electrolytes These are electrolytes where the solvent is water. The advantage of aqueous electrolytes is that they are generally safer and can conduct ions very efficiently. One disadvantage of aqueous electrolytes is that water is more prone to electrolytic decomposition than organic solvents, limiting the voltage window. Water has a voltage stability window of 1.23V at room temperature, due to the thermodynamic stability of water, beyond which it will decompose. However, when salts or other additives are added to make an aqueous electrolyte, the voltage stability window of the water can be significantly expanded, with reports of >3.2V or higher. This phenomenon has enabled commercialized aqueous batteries to operate at voltages well above the thermodynamic stability window of 1.23V for water, with some examples being alkaline or zinc AA batteries (1.5V), nickel-hydrogen (1.55V) and lead acid (2.1V). Despite these issues, the fact that aqueous electrolytes are non-flammable, much less toxic, and generally less reactive than organic electrolytes means that they are often considered safer, especially in terms of risks related to fire and thermal runaway. Each type of electrolyte has its pros and cons, and the choice of electrolyte can significantly influence a battery’s properties, including its energy density, power density, safety, lifespan, and operational temperature range. Therefore, much research is focused on developing new electrolytes that can offer the best combination of these properties for various applications. --- ## What Is the Difference Between Lithium-Ion and LFP / LiFePO₄ Batteries? URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-lithium-ion-and-lfp-batteries/ The advent of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries represented a significant milestone in rechargeable lithium-ion battery technology. With a cathode material centered around lithium, iron, and phosphate (LiFePO4), these batteries carve a distinct sub-sect in the broader lithium-ion landscape, addressing some of the safety and stability concerns that accompany other lithium-ion battery chemistries. With the battery market diversifying, exploring the advantages, disadvantages, and growing applications of LFP batteries, as well as learning more about alternative lithium-free battery chemistries, is vital for those involved in the industry. With the US committing to net zero emissions by 2050, innovative battery chemistries prioritizing safety and cost-effectiveness are essential to ensure an accessible and sustainable electrified future. What Is an LFP Battery? A rechargeable lithium-ion battery that uses LiFePO₄ as its cathode material is defined by the acronym LFP. The term “LFP” is derived from the chemical symbols of its components, emphasizing the use of iron (Fe) and phosphate (PO4). Unlike traditional lithium-ion batteries that use cathode materials like lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) or lithium manganese oxide (LiMn2O4), LFP batteries differentiate themselves by using iron and phosphate. The development of LFP batteries traces back to the broader evolution of lithium-ion battery technology, which began gaining prominence approximately 25 years ago. Over time, researchers and engineers sought to address safety concerns associated with other lithium-ion cathode materials, leading to the emergence of lithium iron phosphate as a safer and more stable alternative. The more tolerant nature of the LiFePO4 battery compared to high-nickel variants marked a significant advancement, making them a preferred choice for various applications. LFP battery cells are characterized by their specific composition and notable features, as listed here: Chemistry: Lithium Iron Phosphate Abbreviation: LiFePO4 (LFP) Year Commercialized: 1996 Nominal Voltage: 3.20, 3.30V Full Charge: 3.65V Full Discharge: 2.50V Minimal Voltage: 2.00V Gravimetric Energy Density: 90-160 Wh/kg Volumetric Energy Density: 340 Wh/L Charge Rate: 1C Discharge Rate: 1C (25C pulse) Cycle Life (Typical): 3000-5000 Thermal Runaway Onset Temperature: 120°C Packaging (Typical): 26650 cylindrical, prismatic, pouch Applications: Stationary energy storage; standard-range electric vehicles Maintenance: Keep cool; store partially charged; prevent full charge cycles; use moderate charge and discharge currents Comments: Flat discharge voltage, high power, lower capacity, relatively higher safety LFP Batteries vs. High-Energy Lithium-Ion Compared to other lithium-ion battery chemistries like nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) and nickel cobalt aluminum (NCA), LFP batteries highlight distinct attributes such as being cobalt-free, thereby mitigating concerns related to the environmental and human rights issues associated with cobalt. The composition of LFP batteries utilizes more abundant elements like iron and phosphate. While the energy density of LFP batteries is lower than that of common lithium-ion types, such as NMC, it remains sufficient for various applications. With an energy density ranging from 90 to 160 Watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg) compared to NMC at 150 to 220 Wh/kg, LFP batteries are effective when considering packing technology advancements that offer potential improvements. LFP batteries bring several advantages, enhancing their appeal in diverse applications, from electric vehicles (EVs) to batteries used in residential settings, to grid-scale applications. The structural stability of LFP battery cells and their thermal and chemical stability contribute to enhanced safety, and the considerable cycle life of LFP batteries surpasses other lithium-ion chemistries like NMC. Advantages and Disadvantages of LFP Batteries Choosing between LFP and other types of lithium-ion batteries depends on the specific requirements and priorities of the intended application. The pros and cons of LFP include the following: Advantages: Safety: LFP batteries are somewhat less prone to thermal runaway (and resulting fires) than high-power chemistries. Cycle life: LFP batteries exhibit a longer cycle life than lead acid, NiMH and NiCad batteries, making them usable in grid storage and mobility applications. Cost: Because LFP batteries use lower cost, more widely-available materials – namely iron and phosphate – some cost savings can be realized per kilowatt-hour produced. Fewer ESG concerns: LFP batteries do not contain nickel or cobalt in their composition. Considering the environmental and human rights issues associated with sourcing those metals, companies using LFP batteries are better able to meet ESG and sustainability goals. Disadvantages: Lower energy density: LFP batteries generally have lower energy density than NMC or NCA batteries, making them less suitable for applications that require maximum energy in minimal space. Similar supply chains: The supply chains for LFP batteries do have some overlap with NMC batteries, potentially leading to competition for shared resources, which could impact the availability and pricing of critical materials. Flammability risks: While LFP batteries are slightly safer than high-energy chemistries, they still use flammable organic solvents similar to other lithium-ion chemistries, such as NMC, and adequate safety measures are necessary to prevent and manage potential fire risks. Unsuitable for small-scale applications: LFP batteries may not be ideal for small-scale applications like consumer electronics due to their lower energy density. Devices requiring compact and lightweight power sources may prefer higher energy-density LCO or lithium-polymer cells. Exploring lithium-free alternative batteries addresses concerns about lithium supply, safety, and environmental sustainability, fostering a more stable energy storage solution. Parallel to LFP’s place in the market, novel chemistries that are non-toxic and non-flammable are coming on the scene to offer improved safety profiles with no inherent risk of thermal runaway, moving beyond the risks of traditional lithium-ion batteries. The diversity in material options is vital for effective energy storage solutions. Encouraging the adoption of lithium-free technologies contributes to diversity in the battery market, fostering innovation, and expanding options for various applications. LFP Batteries in Mainstream Use The application of LFP batteries extends beyond electric vehicles to larger-scale energy solutions. Megapacks—Tesla’s utility-scale energy storage solution—have increasingly leveraged LFP battery technology in newer models of the product. LFP batteries have also become a dominant technology in commercial and industrial battery energy storage systems (BESS), reflecting their versatility for storing and managing electrical energy in diverse settings. The Tesla Powerwall, a product in the residential energy storage segment, has gained immense popularity and achieved 500,000 global installations in early 2023. While the Powerwall was initially equipped with NMC batteries, recent discussions and developments strongly suggest a potential shift to LFP battery technology in its third generation, although not officially confirmed. This transition reflects the continuous innovation within Tesla’s product lineup, and it aligns with the broader industry’s need for a more reliable and safer option for energy storage. EVs and energy storage are at a critical juncture, demanding innovative solutions to enhance resiliency, safety, and efficiency. While lithium-ion batteries currently dominate both markets, researchers are exploring and developing alternative materials and chemistries. These emerging battery technologies symbolize a cleaner, more sustainable future, promising enhanced safety and affordability. What Are Alternatives to LFP Batteries? Alsym™ Energy is developing low-cost, high-performance battery technologies for use in large-scale stationary storage applications. Our proprietary wide-duration battery technology avoids lithium and cobalt, taking advantage of readily available materials that are inherently non-flammable and non-toxic, reducing costs and increasing safety and sustainability. Our low-cost, non-lithium technology allows utilities and project owners to deploy sustainable wide-duration storage without the need for subsidies, and non-flammable and non-toxic materials enable use in areas with high population densities. Alsym technology combines fast charge rates and on-demand user-configurable discharge durations with high round-trip efficiency in a minimal footprint for maximum energy and power with low levelized cost of storage (LCOS), making them ideal for both short-duration and long-duration energy storage (LDES) needs. Low-cost, high-performance Alsym batteries will enable global adoption of battery storage systems across consumer and commercial segments. Our non-flammable materials can help OEMs increase design flexibility, enhanced safety, and achieve lower overall costs. --- ## How Can Cities Address Battery Fire Risks in Multifamily Buildings? URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/how-can-cities-address-battery-fire-risks-in-multifamily-buildings/ A new wave of sustainability and energy efficiency efforts targeted at multifamily buildings has increased the use of lithium-ion batteries. Whether in e-bikes, charging stations, or battery storage systems, lithium-ion battery packs and systems are now found in large quantities in any given square mile of a populated area. Although lithium-ion batteries have been given a title synonymous with sustainability, significant safety concerns are associated with the widespread adoption of these batteries in living spaces. The inherent risks of lithium-ion technology, including the potential for battery fires, have raised alarms among property owners, residents, and safety experts alike. In 2021, there were 104 lithium-ion battery fires in residential structures, which resulted in four fatalities and 79 injuries. As multifamily properties become hubs for battery-powered devices and vehicles, the proximity and density of these energy sources amplify the risk of dangerous incidents, posing threats to both human lives and property infrastructure. In light of these concerns, it’s worth deliberating whether allowing lithium-ion in multifamily spaces is a necessary risk, or if alternative, non-flammable battery technologies can provide the benefits without the dangers. Benefits of Batteries: EVs, E-Bikes, VPPsBattery technologies undoubtedly have a role to play in decarbonizing the building sector. In New York City, the building sector contributes to 71% of greenhouse gas emissions, highlighting the importance of solutions and initiatives to reduce carbon footprints. With buildings contributing significantly to carbon emissions, particularly in urban areas, transitioning to cleaner transportation options and decentralized energy systems is essential to achieving emissions targets. Implementing virtual power plant (VPP) technologies and installing charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) and e-bikes in multifamily properties can all contribute to the ongoing decarbonization effort. VPPs enable utilities to aggregate energy from distributed sources to provide grid services like demand response and peak load shaving during times of excessively high demand on the electric grid. These programs rely on buildings equipped with distributed energy resources, such rooftop solar panels paired with battery systems, and appropriately utilities compensate property owners for letting them tap into their onsite energy. Having charging stations for EVs and e-bikes promotes sustainable transportation options among residents, reducing carbon emissions and alleviating parking congestion. EV drivers are also typically willing to pay more for parking spaces that allow them to charge at home. With generous incentives currently available through state and federal programs, promoting e-mobility by installing charging stations can be affordable to install and profitable to offer in the long run. Decarbonization efforts aside, by providing access to these amenities, multifamily properties can raise property value, attract environmentally conscious tenants, and enhance their overall appeal and competitiveness in the real estate market. A Growing Fire Risk for Multifamily PropertiesWhile the advantages are enticing, the extensive utilization of lithium-ion batteries within communal living areas presents notable hazards. As multifamily properties evolve into focal points for battery-operated devices and transportation, the prevalence of lithium-ion batteries heightens the likelihood of safety issues, most critically the potential for fires. Lithium-ion battery fires can result from thermal runaway, a process triggered by overcharging, physical damage, or elevated temperatures. This phenomenon causes a rapid increase in temperature and pressure within the battery cell, leading to a short circuit and the rapid release of energy housed inside the battery. Once ignited, these fires are uniquely challenging to extinguish, often requiring specialized firefighting techniques and equipment. If not contained swiftly, fires can spread throughout an entire building, endangering lives and causing extensive property damage. Multiple units and shared spaces in multifamily properties can complicate firefighting efforts, necessitating coordinated responses and diligent monitoring to prevent further escalation. Ensuring the welfare of people and property infrastructure requires proactive measures, including enhanced safety standards, robust fire prevention systems, and effective emergency response protocols. As long as lithium-ion batteries are present, multifamily property owners and managers must prioritize protection by implementing regular inspections, training staff on fire safety procedures, and installing adequate fire suppression equipment. Sustainability Requires Alternative Battery TechnologyConcerns surrounding safety risks have made it necessary to explore alternative solutions despite the widespread adoption of lithium-ion batteries for their energy storage capabilities. Researchers and developers in the field of battery technology are currently focusing on identifying and advancing safer, non-toxic, non-flammable, and more affordable options. These efforts involve various approaches, including developing solid-state batteries and other innovative chemistries. Promoting these alternative battery technologies has the potential to revolutionize energy storage in multifamily properties by offering enhanced safety and reliability while aligning with sustainability objectives. Beyond addressing safety concerns, new battery technologies offer improved energy efficiency, reduced environmental impact, and enhanced resilience to power disruptions. Investing in alternative battery solutions can therefore help property owners achieve greater energy autonomy, optimize energy usage, and contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Innovative battery chemistries can support the integration of renewable energy sources as well. By focusing on developing and integrating safer battery alternatives, multifamily properties can progress toward a resilient, high-tech future while ensuring the well-being of their residents. --- ## Cobalt has no place in modern batteries. Here’s why. URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/cobalt-has-no-place-in-modern-batteries-heres-why/ People have used cobalt for many things. It has a long history as a pigment; it’s been used to decorate porcelain for centuries in China, and cobalt blue was a favorite paint color for impressionists such as Renoir and Monet. It’s found in many high-strength metal alloys. It’s necessary for human life, found in vitamin B12. In recent decades, cobalt has become part of the standard formulation for high-energy lithium-ion batteries. Batteries in most smartphones and other consumer electronics use a formulation that calls for a majority cobalt oxide cathode (LCO). Cathodes used in electric vehicles generally use different formulations such as nickel-cobalt-aluminum (NCA), where cobalt makes up roughly 15% of active material, and nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC), where cobalt can be up to 33% of active material. As the need for high-energy batteries increases, more cobalt is being extracted from the soil, which is troubling for a number of reasons. And while cobalt is valuable to recyclers, there currently aren’t enough of them to process all of the emerging waste batteries on a global scale. Cobalt is toxic when inhaled or consumed at above-average levels, which is generally between 5 and 40 micrograms per day for humans. Cobalt toxicity can lead to chronic health problems including asthma, decreased lung function, enlargement of the heart, and congestion of the liver and kidneys. It may even affect the reproductive system in both men and women. While people who mine and process cobalt are at the most acute risk for problems, as more lithium-ion batteries find their way into waste streams and water supplies, the risk to the general public increases as well. Much of the world’s cobalt—up to 70% by some estimates—comes from central African nations such as Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo that lack proper safeguards for personal health and the environment. Many small “artisanal” miners are known to take advantage of forced child labor, with up to 40,000 children as young as six years old mining cobalt in the Congo. The mines themselves are often unsafe, suffering from poor ventilation and prone to collapse. Human rights organizations have begun to focus on the cobalt trade in Africa, and cobalt mining has created ongoing environmental damage in countries including Cuba and Australia. On a more practical level, cobalt pricing has been volatile over the past few years. Prices have swung from roughly $22,000 USD per metric ton in 2016 to a high of $95,000 in 2018, only to fall back to $26,000 in 2019 before surging to $82,000 in 2022. Sudden spikes make planning difficult for battery manufacturers, and price increases are often passed along to end consumers; one only has to look at recent prices for EVs, which have gone up rapidly rather than decline as forecasts had predicted. Chart via Trading Economics Some battery companies do seem to be taking notice. Many battery energy storage systems (BESS) are now leveraging lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries, which contain no cobalt. BESS with LFP batteries sacrifice the energy density of higher-end models with NCA/NMC batteries, but consumers seem to be OK trading reduced energy for lower cost. LFP still have many of the flammability and toxicity issues common to all lithium batteries, but the move away from cobalt is at least a step in the right direction. The next step for the battery industry should be a move toward chemistries that are inherently non-toxic AND non-flammable. Fortunately, there are a number of companies (including Alsym Energy) working toward that goal with technologies including sodium-ion, nickel-zinc, and more that are safer for people and safer for the environment. Together, we can help ensure the planet goes green and not cobalt blue. --- ## Lithium Ion Battery Recycling: Can They be Recycled? URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/lithium-ion-battery-recycling/ As the demand for electric vehicles increases, so does the need for lithium-ion battery (LIB) recycling. It may seem like current recycling technologies are highly effective at first glance; however, critical studies using lifecycle analysis (LCA) show that several factors affect both potential economic and environmental gains of recycled lithium-ion batteries. Lithium Battery Recycling – Can Lithium Batteries be Recycled? Lithium batteries can be recycled. However, no single process for recycling lithium-ion batteries combines low environmental impact and energy cost with high metal yields. Instead, the multiple processes involve a series of tradeoffs that seek to reduce the net environmental impact of battery disposal but can never reach net zero. This is why Alsym’s battery materials have been purposefully selected to eliminate toxicity risks and be easily recyclable. With no lithium, cobalt, or organic electrolytes, Alsym batteries are safer to manufacture, safer to use, and safer to recycle. And that’s good for everyone. Lithium Ion Battery Recycling Process The lithium battery recycling process combines several intermediate recycling technologies. This includes dismantling spent batteries, physical/chemical treatments, and hydrometallurgical/pyrometallurgical steps to recover valuable materials with high purity. Each of these steps has its underlying challenges. Traditional lithium-ion battery designs don’t consider safe and efficient disassembly, which means taking batteries apart can generate dust. These airborne particles (many less than 10 microns in size) can contain toxic elements including arsenic, chromium, cobalt, and lead that contribute to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and may settle on the ground where they pollute the soil. Furthermore, batteries—especially ones that have been damaged or experienced thermal runaway—often release extremely poisonous and/or flammable gasses such as hydrogen, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen fluoride upon venting. Pyrometallurgical processes involve temperatures as high as 1,000 C. Lithium is lost as slag and is difficult to extract, even from post-processing. Other concerns include incinerated plastics, hazardous slags, and toxic gas emissions. These processes involve an intermediate “black mass” which contains hazardous substances such as alkyl fluor phosphates that pose significant threats to human health. Furthermore, the processes may contribute to ozone layer depletion and global warming. Hydrometallurgical processes (such as acid leaching) are more efficient than pyrometallurgical processes. They cost less and produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions, but require strong mineral acids that create acidic wastewater and toxic gases that can harm people, plants, and wildlife. Non-regulated disposals of leachates into landfills can cause severe environmental harm, especially due to the release of transition metals containing nanomaterials. Moreover, specific battery chemistries such as lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) can deplete abiotic resources. Alkali leaching can be used instead of acid leaching in some situations. This process depends on the chelation of ammonium ions and metal ions; however, not all such complexes are water-soluble, meaning this approach does not apply to all cathode materials. Bioleaching is another experimental method that uses bacterial/fungal processes to produce acid-type leaching. Studies show great environmental benefits, but bioleaching is very inefficient and isn’t ready for commercialization. Purification is an important part of the recycling process. Impurities such as aluminum, copper and iron are often found in the extracted materials. These metals must be removed, as resynthesized cathode performance is very sensitive to constituent elements. Leachate will contain transition metal ions (Ni2+, Co2+, Mn2+ for NCM and Fe2+ for LFP) and Li+ ions, both of which are precipitated separately. It’s difficult to avoid co-precipitation of transition metal ions due to their similar properties, making the metal extraction process more complex and expensive. Other methods for metal extraction also have their own limitations; for example, electrodeposition requires a lot of electricity and is not widely used for that reason. While lithium-ion batteries have revolutionized our world, their complex and environmentally challenging recycled lithium-ion battery process paints a different picture. Alsym’s innovative battery technology offers a future-proof solution. By eliminating problematic materials like lithium and cobalt, and utilizing inherently non-toxic and non-flammable components, Alsym not only prioritizes safety and performance in its batteries but also simplifies and streamlines the recycling process. This ultimately contributes to a more sustainable and healthy future for everyone, one where clean energy and responsible environmental practices go hand-in-hand. Written by Dr. Nikhil Koratkar, co-founder of Alsym Energy, John A. Clark and Edward T. Crossan Chair Professor in Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) --- ## Lithium-Ion Batteries are Toxic From Start to Finish URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/lithium-based-batteries-are-toxic-from-start-to-finish/ Written by Dr. Nikhil Koratkar, co-founder of Alsym Energy, John A. Clark and Edward T. Crossan Chair Professor in Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Lithium-ion batteries are everywhere, from the tiny ones in your earbuds to the massive ones in stationary storage installations. And every day, thousands of new batteries roll off the assembly lines—and thousands more find their way into landfills and rivers. It’s easy to assume that these batteries are safe for people and the environment given their ubiquity, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Nearly every metal and chemical process involved in the lithium battery manufacturing chain creates health hazards at some point between sourcing and disposal, and some are toxic at every step. Let’s walk through the most common ones. Lithium toxicity – Is lithium toxic to humans? Lithium is used for many purposes, including treatment of bipolar disorder. While lithium can be toxic to humans in doses as low as 1.5 to 2.5 mEq/L in blood serum, the bigger issues in lithium-ion batteries arise from the organic solvents used in battery cells and byproducts associated with the sourcing and manufacturing processes. Lithium: white gold or fool’s gold? Much of the world’s lithium is extracted by tapping into underground “brine” deposits, pumping water rich in lithium salts into large evaporation ponds. Approximately 500,000 gallons of brine must be extracted to produce one metric ton of lithium, which significantly impacts the amount of water available for drinking and agriculture in regions such as Chile’s Atacama Desert. Once evaporation is complete, lithium salts are separated from other deposits and sent away for processing. By-products of the brine extraction process can include everything from sulfuric acid and radioactive uranium to lime and magnesium waste, all of which can increase rates of cancer and other diseases in nearby communities. Lithium compounds in finished batteries generally contain lithium in ionic form, which is less reactive than lithium metal and presents fewer flammability hazards. Exposure to ionic lithium, which is present in both anode material and electrolyte salts, has both acute and chronic health effects on the central nervous system. Cobalt: turning our world blue, not green Lithium isn’t the only problematic metal in lithium-ion batteries. Cobalt, which can constitute a significant amount of the cathode material, is toxic when inhaled or consumed at above-average levels. Cobalt toxicity can lead to chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and may affect the reproductive system in both men and women. People who mine and process cobalt are at the most acute risk, but as more lithium-ion batteries find their way into waste streams and water supplies, the risk to the public increases. Much of the world’s cobalt—up to 70% by some estimates—comes from central African nations such as Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo that lack proper safeguards for personal health and the environment. Many small “artisanal” miners are known to take advantage of forced child labor, with up to 40,000 children as young as six years old mining cobalt in the Congo. The mines themselves are often unsafe, suffering from poor ventilation and prone to collapse. Human rights organizations have begun to focus on the cobalt trade in Africa, and cobalt mining has created ongoing environmental damage in countries including Cuba and Australia. Nickel: guilty by association The cathode material in some high-density lithium-ion batteries includes as much as 80% nickel. Coal-fired nickel smelters, such as the ones found in Indonesia, release carcinogenic sulfur dioxide into the air, and communities near nickel mines and smelting operations have reported elevated rates of deformities and respiratory problems associated with exposure to pollution. The National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health in the US have recommended that the permissible exposure limits for nickel compounds be reduced to 0.015 mg/m3, based on evidence of carcinogenicity. Polymers and solvents: putting workers at risk The organic liquids used in most electrolyte formulations are both mildly toxic when ingested and can irritate the eyes and skin. Inhaling their vapors may cause nausea, vomiting, or headaches. Overexposure to lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) salts affects the digestive, circulatory, respiratory, and nervous systems, skin, and bones. Ingestion is the most dangerous path of entry into the body, but inhalation and skin contact can also be harmful. Polyvinylidene (PVDF) polymers, widely used as binders in lithium-ion batteries, create health hazards during the recycling process. If heated in the absence of oxygen (pyrolysis), PVDF binders release extremely dangerous hydrogen fluoride gas, which can cause blindness on exposure as well as convert to highly corrosive hydrofluoric acid in the presence of moisture. Dissolution using the solvent N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) also creates the risk of toxic emissions. Direct exposure to NMP can also lead to several adverse health effects. The EPA describes NMP as a developmental toxicant, which is a toxin that interferes with growth and development. NMP can irritate the skin and eyes and can make it difficult to breathe by irritating the lungs and respiratory system. Extended exposure to NMP can also cause kidney and liver damage, neurotoxicity, and reproductive toxicity. Any exposure to NMP before or during pregnancy can result in fetal development problems, including decreased fetal weight and even death. There are few good end-of-life options The growth of e-waste streams brought on by accelerated consumption trends and shortened device lifespans is poised to become a global-scale environmental issue in the short-term. As the main source of electricity for a broad range of devices, batteries are a significant contributor to total generated e-waste, containing considerable quantities of heavy metals like lead and cadmium, as well as lithium and other contaminants widely regarded as ecotoxic. Furthermore, the wide range of sizes and different compositions between batteries contribute to their improper disposal and make recycling difficult. Generally, there are three main end-of-life pathways for lithium-ion batteries: Disposal, which generally means sending batteries to landfills, is the least preferred option as it leads to material loss, increased environmental risk and health hazards, and waste of economic opportunity. Moreover, stockpiling (and/or landfilling) and shipping end-of-life batteries abroad as a part of end-of-life vehicle wholesale are less preferable options. Reuse of EV batteries encompasses remanufacturing and repurposing. Remanufacturing is an opportunity to refurbish retired batteries and use them again in automotive applications after replacing faulty or degraded cells. The main impetus for recycling is to divert materials from landfills, reducing the costs of lithium battery lifecycle, and return strategic and critical materials into the market. The challenges begin with removing batteries from the cars. Handling retired EVs and removing their batteries requires specific knowledge, trained personnel, and specialized tools. Recycling processes for lithium batteries are not completely pollution-free activities and introduce risks that adversely affect human health and ecosystem quality. Thus, recycling processes must be thoroughly assessed. Currently, most of the research is focused on GHG emissions, neglecting other emissions and impact categories. How do we make lithium-ion batteries less toxic? Making lithium-ion batteries less toxic will be difficult. Lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP / LiFePO4) batteries that eliminate the need for cobalt are a step in the right direction, but remain problematic. The only true option is to move away from lithium-based chemistries completely. Technologies currently under development, such as the one being developed by Alsym Energy, leverage metals and materials that are dramatically less toxic, or inherently non-toxic. These batteries should pose fewer risks across every step of the battery lifecycle, from sourcing to manufacture to disposal. --- ## Lithium Battery Fires: Why Do They Happen? URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/why-are-lithium-ion-batteries-so-prone-to-fires/ Lithium-ion batteries are everywhere–there’s probably one in the cell phone in your pocket, in the laptop on your desk, and in the wireless headphones in your ears. While they’ve become commonplace, lithium-ion batteries come with some inconvenient truths – particularly that they’re prone to fires and corrosive leaks. This is why we’re seeing patterns such as recalls for battery electric vehicles (BEVs), specific regulations for traveling with lithium-ion batteries on airplanes, and major fires breaking out in stationary applications and aboard shipping vessels transporting electric vehicles. Why are fires still a threat? The answer can be traced to the materials inside lithium-ion batteries. Why Do Lithium Batteries Catch Fire? Like most types of batteries, a lithium-ion battery cell has four basic components: two electrodes – one positive (“cathode”) and one negative (“anode”), a separator, and a liquid electrolyte. Unlike technologies such as lead acid, lithium-ion chemistry allows a great deal of energy to be stored in a small weight and volume (referred to as “energy density”) and allows that stored energy to be extracted quickly (referred to as “power density”). High energy and power density make lithium-ion batteries optimal for a range of applications because they can store high amounts of energy in tight spaces and deliver it quickly when needed. But there’s a catch: that high energy and power density doesn’t come risk-free. By nature, lithium-ion batteries are unstable and flammable. Inside each is a system of elements that must function harmoniously to prevent the battery from going into thermal runaway or short-circuiting. Even with perfect manufacturing and well-made components, some hazards are simply unavoidable. During charging, lithium ions are sent up a chemical slope from the positive electrode to the negative one. When the battery is discharged, lithium ions are forced out of the anode and back to the side of the cathode, and simultaneously an electron is released to produce electricity. While batteries are almost 100% efficient, heat is produced as the battery discharges and electrons roll down the energy slope. The more electrical current that’s drawn, the more lithium ions are released, and the hotter the battery becomes. Higher current can lead to a positive feedback loop of heat production. If left uninterrupted, it can lead to thermal runaway—a situation where batteries reach a point where internal cell temperature rises quickly and all of the energy stored inside is suddenly released. A failed cell can then pass on all of that heat to the next cell, causing a chain reaction that results in a fire. Lithium Battery Fire Causes: Dendrite Growth Aging and improper charging can lead to lithium dendrite growth. Lithium dendrites are metallic microstructures that form during the charging process when extra lithium ions accumulate on the anode surface and cannot be absorbed into the anode. If dendrites accumulate and grow long enough, they penetrate the internal separator and touch the opposite positive electrode, causing short circuits and leading to catastrophic failures, and even fires. Dendrite growth was the culprit behind the massive Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall. Lithium-ion batteries (including LFP / LiFePO4) are flammable by nature and can exacerbate fires that start in other ways. The recent fire aboard cargo ship Felicity Ace, which was hauling 4,000 luxury vehicles, may or may not have been started by lithium-ion batteries, but was certainly fueled by vehicles containing them. Short circuits can also be caused other ways. Overcharging the battery will cause too many lithium ions to populate the negative electrode, resulting in expansion that can mechanically stress the battery and compromise the internal insulation. Even if there is no damage or dendrites, there’s also the looming possibility of metal contamination within the cells from the manufacturing phase. Can Lithium Battery Fires Be Prevented? High energy and power density don’t have to go hand-in-hand with fire risks. Alsym batteries use materials that are inherently non-flammable, reducing the associated risks to life and property, and cumulative liabilities. They contain no lithium or organic electrolytes and can be used in applications and environments where heat dissipation is an issue and thousands of cells per pack may be needed, such as in large-scale stationary storage. Want to learn more? Get in touch. --- ## LFP / LiFePO4 Isn’t the Solution to Our Lithium-Ion Battery Problems URL: https://www.alsym.com/blog/lfp-lifepo4-isnt-the-solution-to-our-lithium-ion-battery-problems/ While originally expected to retain much of the lithium-ion market share through 2030, high-nickel lithium-ion batteries are already falling to the wayside due to challenges across the value chain: supply constraints, high costs, unsustainable sourcing practices, and reduced cycle life. New reports already indicate interest and early-stage contracts for LFP / LiFePO4 batteries, however, their lithium-ion heritage is unlikely to provide the ideal solution. What Is An LFP Battery? Lithium-iron-phosphate, often shortened to LFP or LiFePO4, is a lithium-ion battery chemistry that uses lithium ferrophosphate in the cathode and graphitic carbon in the anode. LFP / LiFePO4 batteries do not use cobalt or nickel, which lowers energy density but helps to reduce production costs. Are LFP and Lithium-Ion Batteries Different? A LFP battery is a lithium-ion battery. Lithium-ion is best thought of as a family of different chemistries, or “flavors.” All lithium-ion batteries use a reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. But different metals can be used to provide different levels of performance and service life. LFP / LiFePO4 is considered a lower-energy, lower-cost chemistry that is useful for applications such as stationary storage and standard-range EVs. Others include lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) and lithium manganese oxide (LMO), which are higher-energy chemistries used in laptops, mobile phones and other consumer electronics. Lithium nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) and lithium nickel cobalt aluminum (NCA) are also higher-energy chemistries commonly used in EVs and stationary storage systems. How Do LFP Batteries Compare to NMC and NCA LFP / LiFePO4 does have a few benefits over NMC and NCA. Those include (somewhat) safer operation and longer cycle life, which explains why 80% of the demand for LFP / LiFePO4 is coming from the EV market and 13% from stationary storage. However, those benefits are offset by lower energy density and performance. Because key battery materials such as nickel and cobalt are exposed to supply bottlenecks and geopolitical insecurities, some have suggested that LFP / LiFePO4 batteries could be a good alternative. Phosphate and iron are widely available in large amounts from developed countries with robust environmental protections. In contrast, nickel and cobalt (used in NMC/NCA cells) are often sourced in countries such as Russia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo that leverage unsustainable mining practices and are often subject to geopolitical instability. As such, nickel and cobalt are accompanied by concerns about cost volatility, national security, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals. LFP / LiFePO4 batteries are also a seemingly attractive bet for EVs and stationary storage because they have a lower risk of thermal runaway. According to a 2020 paper from the Journal of the Electrochemical Society, LFP batteries have a longer lifespan than NMC/NCA, making them ideal for thousands of charge/discharge cycles in stationary storage applications. In the current global battery market, all chemistries relying on lithium remain susceptible to volatility. Giuseppe Artizzu, CEO for the global business line energy storage at energy storage and e-mobility solutions provider NHOA (formerly Engie EPS), recently stated “‘Well-documented problems with the supply of lithium materials have meant that the price differential between lithium-ion phosphate batteries and NMC (nickel, manganese and cobalt) has closed.” Are LFP Batteries Cheaper? While manufacturing facilities are being built in the U.S., supply of LFP batteries in the next decade is expected to be led by China, which enjoys a virtual monopoly on LFP / LiFePO4 manufacturing due to licensing rights from early LFP / LiFePO4 patents (although many of these are set to expire in 2022). As of January 2022, more than 90% of the world’s LFP / LiFePO4 manufacturing is China-based. With major U.S. electrification commitments in the next ten years, there’s a concern around sudden supply cuts or an unexpected rise in prices. It can take five to ten years to develop a lithium mine, and there’s currently no way to mine lithium without destroying the environment. Two potential locations in the United States, Thacker Pass in Nevada and the Salton Sea in Southern California, are both mired in controversy over water use issues and potential environmental harm to nearby communities. While both are likely to move forward, the decision is souring many individuals’ beliefs in sustainable development; some are questioning whether the benefits of lithium-ion are worth the environmental damage required to make them. Other potential sites in California’s Mojave Desert and Silver Peak, Nevada, are likely to face similar scrutiny. The Long-Term Solution to Lithium-Ion Batteries Despite anticipation from the market, LFP / LiFePO4 does not take the best of the lithium-ion paradigm and do away with the rest. The chemistry and its lithium-based material composition face most of the same longstanding challenges – it’s just more widely available in the near term. But that supply won’t last, and the clock is ticking for battery integrators to make new battery procurement plans and strategize for the future. Recycling is another concern. LFP / LiFePO4 batteries pose a bit of a conundrum on this front; they’re less valuable to recyclers since they don’t contain cobalt, which means they may be more likely to wind up in landfills. As batteries break down over time the electrolyte in many cells will convert to toxic hydrogen fluoride gas, which can cause blindness and converts to corrosive hydrofluoric acid in the presence of moisture. Truly sustainable battery supply means transitioning away from lithium to more readily available materials that are inherently safe and low-cost. Alternative chemistries that don’t use lithium, nickel, or cobalt provide additional benefits beyond what LFP / LiFePO4 tries to offer: non-flammable, non-toxicity, readily recyclable, abundant supply, and lack of geopolitical constraints for simple manufacturing. --- # News & Partnerships ## Alsym Energy Named One of Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech 2026 URL: https://www.alsym.com/alsym-energy-named-fast-company-next-big-things-in-tech-2026/ Alsym Energy Named One of Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech 2026 Alsym’s Na-Series sodium-ion cells recognized for energy innovation MALDEN, MA, USA — October 7, 2026 — Alsym Energy, a developer of high-performance, non-flammable, low-cost sodium-ion battery cells, has been recognized by Fast Company as one of the Next Big Things in Tech 2026 in the Energy and Sustainability category. The award honors Alsym’s sodium-ion battery cells for advancing safe, scalable energy storage that is critical to global power grids and AI data center infrastructure. “As batteries become increasingly critical to AI data centers, utilities, modern power grids, and industry, we need energy storage that delivers strong performance without compromising on safety, cost, or supply-chain stability,” said Mukesh Chatter, CEO of Alsym Energy. “Our sodium-ion battery cells do not enter thermal runaway while delivering best-in-class energy density, unlocking markets where energy storage cannot currently be deployed. The incredible customer traction we have received validates our approach. We’re proud that Fast Company recognized the value of our technology in transforming how the world stores and uses energy.” Over the past year, Alsym Energy has advanced its sodium-ion cells from product launch toward commercial deployment, working with strategic manufacturing partners to scale high-volume production by 2028. Sodium-Ion Solves Critical AI Data Center Infrastructure Challenges Alsym’s sodium-ion cells are uniquely well-suited to AI data centers because they can manage the high-power transients that GPUs induce far better than other battery options. The same cells can serve both power and energy applications. They are also cost-effective because Alsym cells do not need active cooling, can deliver a round-trip efficiency above 97%, and reduce overall operating costs by 75% while holding a comparable CapEx. Eliminating active cooling also dramatically reduces noise and water consumption at AI data centers, and because the cells do not enter thermal runaway, these benefits address the core concerns of surrounding communities. Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech recognizes innovative technologies that are making meaningful progress toward transforming the lives of consumers, businesses, and society. Alsym Energy is proud to be recognized for developing sodium-ion cells that can help make energy storage ubiquitous worldwide. About Alsym Energy Alsym Energy is enabling a safe, affordable energy future by rethinking battery chemistry. The company’s flagship Na-Series cells are non-flammable, high-performance, low-cost sodium-ion batteries made with earth-abundant materials. The cells are designed using a proprietary, physics-informed AI platform that enables the discovery of materials and commercially viable chemistries 15x faster than traditional trial-and-error experiment-only methods. By combining deep-tech expertise in batteries with physics-informed AI, the platform is a closed-loop system that accelerates the entire battery development process, from ideation to manufacturing. Alsym’s Na-Series technology eliminates thermal runaway and allows energy storage to be deployed safely for AI data centers, utilities, commercial real estate, defense, and anywhere else energy storage is needed. Its ability to operate between −40°C and 60°C avoids the need for HVAC systems for safety or performance, and fast charge and discharge rates allow multiple cycles per day, creating a powerful economic model for energy storage systems. The cells’ ability to absorb frequent GPU-induced power transients makes them uniquely suited for the next generation of AI data centers. To date, Alsym has received approximately 24 GWh in customer commitments for the Na-Series cells. To learn more, visit: alsym.com About Fast Company Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with fellow business publication Inc. For more information, please visit fastcompany.com. --- ## Alsym Energy and ERITY Sign Landmark 9GWh Strategic Partnership to Deploy Non-Flammable Sodium-Ion Batteries Across the Mining Sector URL: https://www.alsym.com/alsym-energy-and-erity-partner-to-deploy-non-flammable-sodium-ion-batteries-for-mining/ Alsym Energy and ERITY Sign Landmark 9GWh Strategic Partnership to Deploy Non-Flammable Sodium-Ion Batteries Across the Mining SectorMulti-gigawatt-hour agreement targets essential mining operations, mobile data centers, and utility-scale projects.MALDEN, MA and PERTH, Australia — July 1, 2026 — Alsym Energy, a developer of high-performance, non-flammable, low-cost sodium-ion batteries, and ERITY, an integrated services organization supporting the mining, resources and energy sectors, today announced the signing of a 9GWh Strategic Relationship Agreement (SRA). The collaboration establishes a formal framework to jointly identify, pursue, and deliver advanced battery energy storage systems (BESS) across multiple mining use-cases.Mining is a major consumer of energy, typically supplied via diesel generators as operations are often far away from any grid connection. It is estimated that the mining sector consumes ~ 125 billion liters of diesel a year, comprising 30-50% of a given mine’s operating costs and contributing up to 3% of global greenhouse emissions. BESS offers substantial operational costs savings and is a reliable alternative.This strategic alliance pairs Alsym Energy’s high performance, non-flammable battery technology with ERITY’s deep operational mining expertise to meet the soaring global demand for lower cost, efficient, and high-performance off-grid energy storage solutions that accelerate the transition to clean energy.“We are thrilled to partner with Alsym Energy to identify and deliver BESS opportunities to market,” said Manny Claassens, Chief Operating Officer (Energy), ERITY. “This collaboration allows us to address the pressing energy challenges faced by the mining industry, where energy demands are significant and operations are often located in remote areas with limited access to traditional power infrastructure. By integrating Alsym Energy’s thermally stable, high-performance storage solutions into mining operations, we have an opportunity to help reduce operational costs, enhance energy resilience, and support improved safety and sustainability outcomes across the energy transition landscape.”Pioneering Clean Energy in Global Mining OperationsThe focal point of the partnership will be BESS solutions for mining. ERITY operates across six continents, with major operations in Australia, Africa and Middle East. Specifically, Alsym Energy’s sodium-ion technology is slated for deployment across Volt Resources Limited (ASX:VRC) and Resource Mineral International Limited (ASX:RMI) existing operations and new projects being developed in Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Finland and the United States, as well as BESS projects for non-affiliated mining companies.Asimwe Kabunga, Chairman of both Volt Resources Limited and Resource Minerals International Limited, said “The mining sector is actively seeking energy solutions that improve reliability, enhance safety and support long-term operational sustainability. Non-flammable sodium-ion battery technology presents a compelling opportunity, particularly for remote operations where energy resilience is critical. We see significant potential for this technology across a number of projects within our portfolio. The ability to combine innovative battery technology with practical deployment expertise creates a strong platform for supporting the next generation of mining projects.”“Partnering with ERITY represents a major milestone in our mission to deliver safe, high-performance, and cost-effective energy storage worldwide,” said Mukesh Chatter, CEO of Alsym Energy. “ERITY’s extensive reach in critical sectors – from data centers to global mineral extraction in key regions like Australia, Africa and Middle East – provides the perfect platform to deploy our non-flammable sodium-ion technology across an energy-intensive industry and in high temperature regions who are eager to lead the energy transition. “The 9GWh agreement outlines a collaborative approach to develop and deploy tailored energy storage solutions in mining including:24×7, high reliability, non-flammable micro-grid energy for mining operations paired with renewable energy or other sources. In particular, as primary energy for ventilation systems that are a major cost component of subsurface operations.Critical Mineral Extraction and Processing: Providing robust, low-emission power to remote and demanding mining operations.AI Mobile Data Centers for Mining: Delivering reliable, high-performance energy for onsite AI data center which process critical geologic information in real time. Alsym Energy’s cells are especially well suited to handling the frequent power transients that results from AI GPUs.Mining and hauling equipment are major users of diesel, and therefore already moving toward electric alternatives. The fast-charge and high-power discharge capabilities of Alsym Energy’s Na-Series (sodium-ion battery technology platform) are ideally suited to supporting this transformation.Mobile BESS so that reliable energy can be easily moved to wherever it is needed. Alsym Energy Na-Series batteries’ ability to be safely stored and transported at 0% state of charge unlocks the flexibility required for this use case.In future, other potential areas of development include Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure, Commercial and Industrial Applications and Utility-Scale Energy Projects.ABOUT ALSYM ENERGYAlsym Energy is enabling a safe, affordable energy future by rethinking battery chemistry.  The company’s flagship Na-Series are non-flammable, high-performance, low-cost sodium-ion batteries made with earth abundant materials. They are designed using a proprietary, physics-informed AI platform that enables the discovery of materials and commercially viable chemistries 10x faster than traditional, trial and error experiment-only methods.  By combining DeepTech expertise in batteries with physics-informed AI, the platform is a closed-loop system that accelerates the entire battery development process, from ideation to manufacturing. Alsym’s Na-Series technology eliminates thermal runaway and allows energy storage to be deployed safely for AI data centers, utilities, commercial real estate, defense and anywhere else energy storage is needed. Its wide operating temperature range avoids the need for HVAC systems for safety or performance, and fast charge and discharge rates allow multiple cycles per day, creating a powerful economic model for energy storage systems. And its ability to absorb GPU-induced frequent power transients makes it uniquely suited for the next generation of AI data centers. To date, Alsym has publicly announced 18 GWh in customer commitments with more to come. Alsym Na-Series: A better battery for energy storageTo learn more, visit: alsym.com ABOUT ERITYERITY is an integrated consulting and advisory organisation supporting informed and defensible decision-making across the mining, resources and energy sectors.Bringing together expertise across geology, mining, corporate advisory and legal disciplines, ERITY supports organisations throughout the asset lifecycle, from exploration and project development through to investment, operations and governance. By combining experienced professional judgement with analytical systems and AI-supported workflows, ERITY assists clients in evaluating complex technical, commercial, financial and regulatory considerations in a structured and evidence-driven manner.Human-led. AI-supported. Evidence-driven.To learn more, visit: erity.comMedia Contacts:Alsym Energy:Shiyun FuAntenna Group for Alsymalsym@antennagroup.comERITY:Magda FimmanoPrincipal, Marketing & Communicationsmagda.fimmano@erity.com --- ## Alsym Energy and Re:Build Manufacturing Partner to Scale Domestic Sodium-Ion Battery Cell Production for the Energy Storage Market URL: https://www.alsym.com/alsym-energy-and-rebuild-manufacturing-partner-to-scale-domesticsodium-ion-battery-cell-production/ Alsym Energy and Re:Build Manufacturing Partner to Scale Domestic Sodium-Ion Battery Cell Production for the Energy Storage MarketMALDEN, Ma and FRAMINGHAM, Ma – Alsym Energy, a developer of high- performance, non-flammable, low cost, sodium-ion batteries, and Re:Build Manufacturing, a leader in advanced domestic manufacturing, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to partner on the development of commercial-scale sodium-ion battery cell manufacturing capacity in the United States.This partnership is aimed at addressing the rapidly growing demand for safe, high-performance and cost-effective battery cells for Energy Storage Systems (ESS). By combining Alsym Energy’s innovative battery technology with Re:Build’s industrial-scale manufacturing capabilities, the two companies intend to establish a competitive battery cell manufacturing capacity to support our national energy security needs.As the global transition to renewable energy accelerates, the limitations of current battery technologies have become increasingly apparent. Lithium-ion cells are highly flammable and combustible, which is slowing ESS deployments across the country and limiting where they can be used. Alsym Energy’s sodium-ion technology offers a superior alternative for the ESS market, providing high performance and compelling economics without the inherent fire risks of lithium-ion. The non-flammability of Alsym’s cells is a vital “unlock” for the industry, allowing for faster deployment anywhere energy storage is needed, including urban and sensitive environments where safety regulations prevent lithium battery deployments.“At Alsym, we believe the world needs safe, low cost, high performance batteries,” said Mukesh Chatter, CEO of Alsym Energy. “Our Na-Series batteries are filling the critical energy needs for AI data centers, utilities, commercial real estate and other industries. It is a better battery for energy storage. Partnering with Re:Build allows us to accelerate our roadmap toward domestic commercial production. Their expertise in precision manufacturing and battery components is the perfect match for us. Together, we are providing a path for ESS integrators and developers to access high-quality cells that are not only non-flammable and high performance but are backed by a reliable, non-FEOC supply chain that is fully compliant with tax credit and Defense procurement rules.”For Re:Build, this partnership represents a natural evolution of its thesis that onshoring advanced manufacturing is essential to U.S. economic and energy security. Re:Build already possesses deep expertise in the assembly of battery packs and modules; expanding into cell manufacturing is the logical next step in offering a vertically integrated, domestic energy solution.“Cell manufacturing is central to our mission of revitalizing American manufacturing,” said Miles Arnone, CEO of Re:Build Manufacturing. “We have seen an immense ‘thirst’ from customers for a battery supply chain that is reliable and located right here in the U.S. Alsym’s technology is a game-changer for the stationary storage market. By collaborating on the development of commercial-scale cell manufacturing, we are positioning ourselves to meet the massive commitments our customers have already made to these cleaner, safer technologies.”The collaboration will focus on the development of commercial-scale sodium-ion battery cell manufacturing capacity in Re:Build’s existing facility in New Kensington, PA, an area with deep, historical manufacturing expertise and a community eager for opportunities. This domestic-first approach ensures that ESS OEMs and developers can maximize tax benefits under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), including the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit, while significantly reducing logistical lead times and shipping costs.This joint initiative reinforces the shared commitment of both Alsym and Re:Build to lead the next generation of American industrial innovation.ABOUT ALSYM ENERGYAlsym Energy is enabling a safer, scalable energy future by rethinking battery chemistry.  The company’s flagship Na-Series are non-flammable, high-performance, low cost sodium-ion batteries made with earth abundant materials. They are designed using a proprietary, physics-informed AI platform that enables the discovery of materials and commercially viable chemistries 10x faster than traditional, trial and error experiment-only methods.  By combining DeepTech expertise in batteries with physics-informed AI, the platform is a closed-loop system that accelerates the entire battery development process, from ideation to manufacturing. Alysm’s Na-Series technology eliminates thermal runaway and allows energy storage to be deployed safely for AI data centers, utilities, commercial real estate, defense and anywhere else energy storage is needed. Its wide operating temperature range avoids the need for HVAC systems for safety or performance, and fast charge and discharge rates allow multiple cycles per day, creating a powerful economic model for energy storage systems. To date, Alsym has publicly announced 9 GWh in customer commitments with more to come. Alsym Na-Series: A better battery for energy storage.To learn more, visit: alsym.comABOUT RE:BUILD MANUFACTURINGRe:Build Manufacturing was founded in 2020 by former Amazon Worldwide Consumer CEO Jeff Wilke and operations veteran Miles Arnone to revitalize the U.S. industrial base through a new model of American industrialization. With more than 1,200 employees including over 400 engineers across nine states, Re:Build combines cutting-edge enabling technologies, their Manufacturing Constrained Design (MCD) approach, and the aggressive deployment of Lean and Continuous Improvement to design and produce technologically advanced products from concept through full-scale production entirely in the United States. The company serves customers across aerospace and defense, electrification, energy, medical, and robotics and intelligent automation.To learn more, visit: rebuildmanufacturing.comMedia ContactsAlsym Energy:Shiyun FuAntenna Group for Alsymalsym@antennagroup.comRe:Build Manufacturing:Mary OssoDirector of Marketingcommunications@rebuildmanufacturing.com --- ## Alsym Energy and Juniper Energy Partner to Deploy 500MWh of Non-Flammable, Sodium-Ion Storage URL: https://www.alsym.com/alsym-energy-juniper-energy-partner-on-non-flammable-sodium-ion-energy-storage/ Alsym Energy and Juniper Energy Partner to Deploy 500MWh of Non-Flammable, Sodium-Ion StorageStrategic Agreement Leverages Alsym’s Na-Series Technology to Maximize Domestic Content Incentives and Eliminate Active Cooling in Extreme Desert EnvironmentsMALDEN, MA and SAN MATEO, CA  — Alsym Energy, a leading developer of non-flammable, low-cost sodium-ion battery technology, and Juniper Energy, a California-based renewable energy developer, today announced a strategic partnership to deploy 500MWH of high-performance Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) primarily across the state of California. The collaboration marks a significant shift away from fire-prone lithium-ion dependencies, prioritizing safety, domestic production, and operational efficiency in some of the United States’ most demanding climates.As California continues to lead the nation’s energy transition, the need for safe, long-duration storage that can withstand extreme ambient thermal conditions is paramount. By integrating Alsym’s Na-Series technology, Juniper Energy will deploy storage assets that eliminate the fire risks associated with traditional chemistries while significantly reducing the levelized cost of storage (LCOS).Technical Superiority in the Mojave DesertA cornerstone of this partnership is the deployment of Alsym’s batteries in the Mojave Desert and other high-temperature regions. Unlike lithium-ion systems that require energy-intensive active cooling to prevent thermal runaway and consequential damages from fire and toxic gases, Alsym’s sodium-ion chemistry is designed to avoid thermal runaway and operates efficiently without active cooling. This “passive cooling” capability simplifies the Balance of Plant (BoP), lowers upfront capital expenditures, and greatly reduces ongoing Operations & Maintenance (O&M) costs. Furthermore, the high charge and discharge rates mean operators have the flexibility to do multiple cycles per day and use for revenue generation as well as load shifting. And the long cycle life ensures these benefits will be available without premature degradation or requiring augmentation.Economic Advantages and Domestic SourcingThe partnership is strategically designed to maximize the financial attractiveness of renewable projects. By utilizing Alsym’s domestically sourced and manufactured battery cells, Juniper Energy is positioned to maximize One Big Beautiful Bill tax credits and Department of Energy (DOE) incentives. This domestic supply chain provides Juniper with a “lithium-free” hedge against global supply chain volatility and environmental concerns related to rare-metal mining.“After several years of evaluating the non-lithium landscape, it became clear that sodium-ion—and specifically Alsym’s Na-Series—is the premier solution for the next generation of California’s grid,” said Keith McDaniels, Founder and Managing Partner of Juniper Energy. “Alsym’s ability to provide a safe, US-produced battery allows us to maximize tax credits and improve project IRRs while providing our off-takers with a more flexible, reliable, and cost-effective storage asset.”“Juniper Energy is a forward-thinking developer that recognizes the inherent limitations of lithium in warmer environments,” said Mukesh Chatter, CEO and Co-Founder of Alsym Energy. “Our Na-Series technology was built for exactly this: providing high-performance, fast-charging storage that doesn’t require complex cooling or risk community safety. By manufacturing here in the U.S., we are ensuring that partners like Juniper can deploy projects faster and more profitably.”The Vision for a Lithium-Free GridThe initial phase of the partnership focuses on multi-megawatt deployments in California, with a long-term vision to scale Alsym-powered assets across Juniper’s entire development pipeline. The 30-minute fast-charging capability of the Na-Series will enable Juniper to capitalize on a wide range of revenue-generating use cases, from daily solar shifting to frequency regulation, and potentially even multiple cycles per day, ensuring a resilient and sustainable California grid.About Alsym Energy Alsym Energy is enabling a safe, affordable energy future by rethinking battery chemistry.  The company’s flagship Na-Series are non-flammable, high-performance, low cost sodium-ion batteries made with earth abundant materials. They are designed using a proprietary, physics-informed AI platform that enables the discovery of materials and commercially viable chemistries 10x faster than traditional, trial and error experiment-only methods.  By combining DeepTech expertise in batteries with physics-informed AI, the platform is a closed-loop system that accelerates the entire battery development process, from ideation to manufacturing. Alysm’s Na-Series technology eliminates thermal runaway and allows energy storage to be deployed safely for AI data centers, utilities, commercial real estate and anywhere else energy storage is needed. Its wide operating temperature range avoids the need for HVAC systems for safety or performance, and fast charge and discharge rates allow multiple cycles per day, creating a powerful economic model for energy storage systems. Alsym Na-Series: A better battery for energy storage.To learn more, visit: alsym.comAbout Juniper EnergyJuniper Energy is a California-based renewable energy developer focused on building the next generation of sustainable infrastructure. With a mission to deploy safe, reliable, and domestically sourced energy assets, Juniper specializes in utility-scale projects that leverage cutting-edge non-lithium technologies to meet the evolving needs of the modern grid.Media ContactShiyun FuAntenna Group for Alsymalsym@antennagroup.com --- ## ESS Partners with Alsym Energy to Deliver 8.5 GWh of Non-Lithium Battery Energy Storage Solutions URL: https://www.alsym.com/ess-partners-with-alsym-energy-to-deliver-8-5-gwh-of-non-lithium-battery-energy-storage-solutions/ Next Generation Sodium-ion Battery Solution Enables ESS Transition to a Full-Service BESS Platform Provider for Expanded ApplicationsPartnership Enables ESS to Enter the Short and Medium Duration Energy Storage SegmentWILSONVILLE, Ore. & MALDEN, Mass.–ESS Tech, Inc. (NYSE: GWH) (“ESS” or the “Company”), a leading manufacturer of sustainable, long‑duration energy storage systems (“LDES”), today announced the signing of a letter of intent for a strategic partnership with Alsym Energy, a pioneer in non-flammable, high-performance sodium-ion batteries, to add 8.5 GWh of sodium‑ion cells and modules to its portfolio.This next‑generation battery solution is designed to address use cases traditionally served by lithium‑ion systems – and those where lithium cannot go – but without the inherent thermal run-away risks associated with lithium chemistries.This partnership marks ESS’s entry into the short‑ and medium‑duration BESS (“Battery Energy Storage System”) segment, a market historically dominated by lithium-ion. It meaningfully expands the Company’s addressable market beyond its established position in long-duration storage. The Alsym sodium-ion technology virtually eliminates thermal runaway risk and lowers total cost of ownership. In addition, the solution does not require complex HVAC systems, demonstrates high round trip efficiency, employs fast charge and discharge capabilities and offers a simpler, safer deployment profile for customers seeking superior stationary storage solutions.“Sodium-ion and iron flow are complementary technologies,” said Drew Buckley, Chief Executive Officer of ESS. “Alsym’s sodium-ion Na-Series is an ideal solution for ESS’s short- and medium-duration applications where high power, fast cycling, and rapid response are paramount. ESS’s existing Energy Base® iron flow platform is engineered for the 8–24 hour long-duration segment, where deep daily cycling, 25-year asset life, and zero capacity degradation deliver the lowest levelized cost of storage. Together, the two chemistries form a unified, non-lithium platform that enables ESS to meet customers’ full storage needs from a single trusted provider, whether the application calls for firming renewables over a few hours, shifting energy across a full day, or pairing both within a single project to optimize economics across the full duration curve.”Randall Selesky, Chief Commercial Officer at ESS, added, “This partnership represents a major milestone in our strategy to become a full-spectrum, non-lithium solutions provider for the entire energy storage market with safer, more sustainable technologies. By combining Alsym’s high performance, non-flammable sodium‑ion technology with ESS’ systems expertise and Energy Base® long‑duration solutions, we are giving customers a clear pathway beyond lithium‑ion — without compromising performance or economics.“Unlike lithium‑ion batteries and many other sodium-ion batteries, Alsym’s Na-Series batteries are non‑combustible and thermally stable, reducing system complexity, improving safety, and lowering total cost of ownership by reducing the need for extensive fire suppression and HVAC infrastructure. Alsym’s Na-Series has been developed using a proprietary, physics-informed AI platform for battery development that dramatically shortens the time to bring innovation to the market. The batteries utilize non-foreign entity of concern (“FEOC”) sourced materials and provide integrators and OEMs with a safe, cost-effective, supply-secure battery solution,” Selesky concluded.Mukesh Chatter, Chief Executive Officer for Alsym Energy, commented, “ESS is a leading innovator in stationary storage, and we are very pleased to be partnering with them. As demand grows, it is increasingly clear that the industry needs solutions beyond lithium-ion to meet the speed and scale projections. By combining high performance, inherent safety, and supply chain resilience, Alsym’s Na-Series delivers that capability and ESS brings deep experience delivering grid-scale systems that maximize the value of renewable energy. Together, we are enabling a better path forward for energy storage.”With the combined sodium-ion and iron-flow platform, ESS is positioned to support utilities, IPPs, data centers, and C&I customers seeking American-made, flexible, and future‑proof energy storage solutions across a wide range of applications.About ESS Tech, Inc.ESS (NYSE: GWH) is the leading manufacturer of long-duration iron flow energy storage solutions. ESS was established in 2011 with a mission to accelerate decarbonization safely and sustainably through longer lasting energy storage. Using easy-to-source iron, salt, and water, ESS iron flow technology enables energy security, reliability and resilience. We build flexible storage solutions that allow our customers to meet increasing energy demand without power disruptions and maximize the value potential of excess energy. For more information visit www.essinc.com.About Alsym EnergyAlsym Energy is enabling a safe, affordable energy future by rethinking battery chemistry. The company’s flagship Na-Series are non-flammable, high-performance, low cost sodium-ion batteries made with earth abundant materials. They are designed using a proprietary, physics-informed AI platform that enables the discovery of materials and commercially viable chemistries 10x faster than traditional, trial and error experiment-only methods. By combining DeepTech expertise in batteries with physics-informed AI, the platform is a closed-loop system that accelerates the entire battery development process, from ideation to manufacturing. Alysm’s Na-Series technology eliminates thermal runaway and allows energy storage to be deployed safely, and at scale, anywhere energy storage is needed — from data centers and industrial facilities to residential buildings, commercial real estate, mining, military installations or utility grids. Its wide operating temperature range avoids the need for HVAC systems for safety or performance, and fast charge and discharge rates allow multiple cycles per day, creating a powerful economic model for energy storage systems. Alsym Na-Series: A better battery for energy storage.To learn more, visit: alsym.comForward-Looking StatementsThis communication contains forward-looking statements (including within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended) concerning the Company and other matters that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. These statements may discuss the management team’s goals, beliefs, hopes, intentions and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, results of operations and financial condition, or otherwise, based on current beliefs of the management of the Company, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company’s management. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would,” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us, may include our anticipated growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements pertaining to market opportunities for ESS’ products, pace of commercial activity, ESS product development and manufacturing, and relationships with strategic partners and customers. These forward-looking statements are based on ESS’ current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on ESS. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this communication. There can be no assurance that the future developments affecting ESS will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond ESS control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, which include, but are not limited to, barriers we face in our attempts to produce our energy storage products; our products being in the early stage of commercialization and aspects of our technology not having been fully field tested; our inability to develop our business and effectively commercialize our energy storage products; our dependence on third-party suppliers; delays in our manufacturing operations; and other risks and uncertainties described more fully in the section titled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-K filed on March 5, 2026, and the Company’s other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, ESS is not undertaking any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.ESS Contacts:Companyinvestors@essinc.comInvestor RelationsChris Tyson Executive Vice President MZ Group – MZ North America Phone: (949) 491-8235 GWH@mzgroup.uswww.mzgroup.usAlsym Media Contact:Antenna Group for Alsym EnergyAlsym@antennagroup.com --- ## Alsym Energy Announces Na-Series Battery Success Developed With Physics-Informed AI Platform URL: https://www.alsym.com/alsym-energy-announces-na-series-battery-success-developed-with-physics-informed-ai-platform/ Alsym’s proprietary physics-informed AI platform powered the development of its Na-Series batteries—a non-flammable, high performance and low cost energy solution positioned to serve critical energy storage markets including data centers, utilities, telecommunications, commercial real estate, industrial and defense, among others. MALDEN, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Alsym Energy, a pioneer in non-flammable, high-performance sodium-ion batteries, today announced details of the proprietary physics-informed AI platform used to develop the company’s recently launched Na-Series sodium-ion batteries. By integrating fundamental physics models with AI, autonomous testing and proprietary molecular diagnostics in a closed-loop system, Alsym is accelerating the design of safer, inexpensive, commercialized batteries through all phases of the development cycle. As global demand for electricity surges, the limitations of lithium-ion batteries have become increasingly apparent, particularly around safety and supply chain constraints. Lithium-ion chemistry presents inherent challenges, including flammability and reliance on constrained global supply chains—issues that become more acute in large-scale energy storage, where higher energy densities considerably increase fire risks, and growing demand across sectors further strains the supply chain and imperils energy sovereignty. At the same time, the pace of innovation must accelerate because existing battery solutions are not designed to meet the cost, safety, and performance required for today’s infrastructure demands, particularly in urban areas. Permitting restrictions due to fire risks and long delays are the top concerns for energy storage system project developers. Alsym’s physics-informed AI platform is designed to accelerate battery innovation by fundamentally improving how new chemistries are discovered, developed, and scaled: Uses physics-guided AI to narrow an otherwise unmanageable range of possible battery chemistries — rapidly converges on deployable, non-flammable, high-performance battery chemistries rather than exploring candidates in isolation. Integrates machine learning with automated, closed-loop experimentation to extract maximum actionable learning from each test, accelerating progress across materials, cell design, and operating conditions beyond traditional trial-and-error approaches. Applies continuous electrochemical, materials, and molecular diagnostics and feedback to understand not just how a battery performs, but why—enabling targeted optimization and robust, predictable scaling from lab to prototype to pilot and commercial production. Drives AI-optimized system-level end-to-end co-design of materials, cell architecture, and manufacturing processes – ensuring performance, safety, cost and manufacturability are achieved simultaneously at scale. This innovation platform approach underpins the development of Alsym’s Na-Series and positions the company to rapidly deliver continued innovation as it scales. The rapid development of Alsym’s Na-Series sodium-ion battery utilized a chemistry that was identified, tested, developed and built in under a year. Na-Series batteries are non-flammable while delivering high performance, affordability, and competitive energy density. By leveraging abundant, widely available materials, the technology also provides a secure and resilient supply chain advantage over conventional lithium-ion solutions. “The energy transition cannot wait decades for a better answer for energy storage,” said Dr. Kripa Varanasi, Professor of Engineering at MIT and co-founder of Alsym Energy. “What’s required is a fundamentally faster way to turn innovation into infrastructure. The challenge is no longer just discovery – it’s deployment. By integrating physics-informed AI, deep electrochemical expertise, and system-level intelligence across cell architecture, operations and manufacturing, we’ve built a platform that enables continuous innovation and scalable deployment of safer, cost-effective battery technologies for critical infrastructure.” Na-Series batteries surpass non-flammability tests From the outset, Alsym set a clear objective: to develop a truly non-flammable and high-performance battery chemistry. The physics-informed AI platform enabled this goal—guiding the discovery and refinement of a system that eliminates the risk of thermal runaway. Alsym has validated the inherent safety of its chemistry through rigorous testing. In accelerated rate calorimetry (ARC) testing, Na-Series cells were heated from room temperature to 400°C without ever going into thermal runaway. In nail penetration tests conducted on fully charged cells, no rupture, fire, or flame was observed at any point—demonstrating the system’s resistance to catastrophic failure modes that have challenged existing battery technologies. These results underscore the success of Alsym’s platform to deliver real innovation designed to solve a market problem. “The safety of Na-Series enables deployments everywhere lithium-ion batteries can, and all the places lithium can’t,” said Mukesh Chatter, CEO of Alsym Energy. “The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) advantages are also clear: its wide operating temperature range enables substantial operating cost savings, and upfront costs are very competitive both at the cell and system level. Coupled with fast charge and discharge rates, and flexible use across short, medium and long durations, Alsym Na-Series is a fundamentally better battery for energy storage. For customers, this means lower total cost of ownership, reduced risk, simplified safety and thermal management requirements, broader deployment flexibility, and increased revenue through fast charge–discharge and optimized cycling that captures value from dynamic grid pricing.” Alsym’s Na-Series batteries support a wide range of applications, including utilities and microgrids, data centers, commercial real estate, industrial operations, maritime environments, defense systems, and residential energy storage. The company is currently advancing its commercialization roadmap and will be shipping cells and modules to strategic partners starting in Q3 2026. ABOUT ALSYM Alsym Energy is enabling a safe, affordable energy future by rethinking battery chemistry. The company’s flagship Na-Series are non-flammable, high-performance, low cost sodium-ion batteries made with earth abundant materials. They are designed using a proprietary, physics-informed AI platform that enables the discovery of materials and commercially viable chemistries 10x faster than traditional, trial and error experiment-only methods. By combining DeepTech expertise in batteries with physics-informed AI, the platform is a closed-loop system that accelerates the entire battery development process, from ideation to manufacturing. Alsym’s Na-Series technology eliminates thermal runaway and allows energy storage to be deployed safely, and at scale, anywhere energy storage is needed — from data centers and industrial facilities to residential buildings, commercial real estate, mining, military installations or utility grids. Its wide operating temperature range avoids the need for HVAC systems for safety or performance, and fast charge and discharge rates allow multiple cycles per day, creating a powerful economic model for energy storage systems. Alsym Na-Series: A better battery for energy storage. To learn more, visit: alsym.com   Contacts Shiyun Fu Antenna Group for Alsym alsym@antennagroup.com --- ## Alsym Energy Celebrates New Headquarters and Welcomes Yvonne Hao, MA Secretary of the Executive Office of Economic Development URL: https://www.alsym.com/alsym-energy-celebrates-new-headquarters-and-welcomes-yvonne-hao-ma-secretary-of-the-executive-office-of-economic-development/ The new location expands Alsym’s role in advancing non-lithium battery technology and boosts cleantech innovation in MassachusettsBoston, MA – Oct. 30th, 2024 – Woburn-based startup Alsym™ Energy (Alsym), a developer of high-performance, non-flammable batteries for stationary storage, welcomed Yvonne Hao, Secretary of the Executive Office of Economic Development for Massachusetts, to its new 60,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility in Malden. Joining Secretary Hao were Under Secretary Ashley Stolba, Malden Mayor Gary Christenson, and representatives from Reading Municipal Light District, the office of Minority Whip Katherine Clark, MassMEP, and MassCEC. The group gathered to discuss Alsym’s ground-breaking technology and the benefits of the Massachusetts ClimateTech ecosystem.During the visit, Alsym provided a tour of the office, R&D lab, and future manufacturing areas to showcase Alysm’s advancements in safe, high-performance, non-lithium, and non-flammable battery technology.“Massachusetts is committed to leading in climatetech by investing in solutions that directly address climate change,” said Yvonne Hao, Secretary of the Executive Office of Economic Development. “We’re proud to have companies like Alsym Energy here making groundbreaking advancements in energy storage and reinforcing our state as a hub for sustainable technology.”Alsym’s expansion brings new jobs to Malden and reinforces the region’s reputation as a leader in new battery technologies. The rise of alternatives like Alsym’s non-lithium batteries shows that it’s possible to meet urgent energy storage needs while prioritizing safety sustainability, and a U.S. supply chain.“We are proud to welcome Alsym to Malden,” said Mayor Gary Christenson. “Their groundbreaking work in non-lithium battery technology reinforces our area as a hub for clean energy innovation and also addresses critical safety concerns associated with lithium-ion batteries, specifically fire risks. By driving advancements in safer, sustainable energy storage, Alsym is contributing to both the economic growth of our city and the development of solutions that will shape a more secure and sustainable future. We look forward to a successful partnership”“The opening of our new facility marks a pivotal moment not just for Alsym, but for the future of energy storage,” said Mukesh Chatter, CEO of Alsym Energy. “Our mission is to deliver affordable, safe, and high-performance alternatives to lithium-ion batteries that are critical for the global shift to clean energy. This facility will accelerate our ability to bring to market solutions that can power industries, homes, and communities, all while reducing reliance on scarce and hazardous materials. Massachusetts has always been at the forefront of technology, and we’re proud to contribute to its legacy of leadership in clean energy.”To learn more about Alsym Energy, visit their website.About Alsym Energy:Alsym™ Energy has developed a low-cost, high-performance, inherently non-flammable battery that is free of lithium and cobalt, making it ideal for grid and microgrid applications, as well as data centers, oil and gas, mining, manufacturing, ports, home storage, and heavy industry. Through its unique chemistry, Alsym can deliver wide-duration storage with performance comparable to lithium-ion at a much lower cost, helping to speed the pace of decarbonization globally. To learn more, please visit alsym.com. Media Contacts:Antonio HicksAntenna Group for Alsym EnergyAlsym@antennagroup.com646-357-3445 --- ## Alsym Energy Selected for DOE’s Storage Acceleration Voucher Program; Will Work with Stanford Linear Accelerator Center on Advanced Cell Research URL: https://www.alsym.com/alsym-energy-selected-for-does-storage-acceleration-voucher-program-will-work-with-stanford-linear-accelerator-center-on-advanced-cell-research/ WOBURN, MASS., August 20, 2024 — Alsym™ Energy, a developer of high-performance, non-lithium, non-flammable, cost-effective batteries for stationary storage applications, has been chosen as one of 12 companies to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) inaugural Storage Accelerator Voucher program. The selection will provide Alsym access to Stanford University’s High Precision Materials Characterization Tool. The program, a component of the Energy Storage Grand Challenge, provides selected recipients 40 hours of time with DOE’s national laboratory experts to address technical hurdles in the energy storage technology commercialization process. Recipients include start-ups, utilities, EV innovators, builders, and electricity industry entrepreneurs. “This is an impactful win for the Alsym team, and we appreciate the DOE’s recognition of Alsym as a company well-positioned to address some of the nation’s largest energy storage challenges,” said Mukesh Chatter, CEO and co-founder of Alsym. “The opportunity to work with a DOE National Lab is significant, and we’re excited to collaborate with SSRL to accelerate our continued progress towards commercialization of Alsym Green. This type of innovative and agile partnership from the DOE is exactly what the energy storage industry needs to be successful. We’re proud to be one of the inaugural recipients of the Storage Accelerator Voucher, and hope to see this program continue to expand.” Alsym Green is a high performance, inherently non-flammable and non-toxic battery technology that is an affordable alternative to lithium-ion and can be applied to a range of stationary storage applications including utility grids and microgrids as well as urban areas, home storage, and data centers. The Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) within the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) identifies and develops materials to improve the performance of batteries, as well as fuel cells and other energy technologies. Alsym will utilize SSRL’s High Precision Materials Characterization Tool to obtain an intimate depiction of cell material operation. --- ## Alsym Energy Announces $78M Funding Round Led by Tata Limited and General Catalyst URL: https://www.alsym.com/alsym-energy-announces-78m-funding-round-led-by-tata-limited-and-general-catalyst/ Boston-area battery company will use investments to expand manufacturing capability in order to meet growing demand for customer samples WOBURN, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–April 03, 2024 — Alsym™ Energy, a developer of next-generation non-flammable rechargeable batteries for stationary storage, marine and mobility applications, announced a $78 million funding round jointly led by Tata Limited (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons) and General Catalyst, a global venture capital firm. New York-based Thrive Capital and Toronto-based Thomvest also joined in the round, as well as existing investor Drads Capital. Alsym will use the funds to grow its Boston-area team and expand its prototyping and pilot lines to address increasing demand for customer samples. This commitment from leading strategic investors and venture capital firms highlights the growing interest in high-performance, inexpensive non-flammable battery technologies. Electricity generation is shifting to renewables, which are intermittent by nature and must be backed up by battery energy storage systems (BESS) at scale to ensure 24/7 availability as fossil-fuel plants go offline. A variety of storage technologies are needed to address the different requirements of customers in terms of costs and performance. Alsym’s first product for this market, called Alsym Green, offers significantly higher system-level energy density than other non-flammable, non-lithium battery chemistries. Products targeted to the marine, two-wheeler, three-wheeler, and passenger vehicle markets are planned to follow. With the ability to operate at elevated temperatures, Alsym Green is the only high-performance, non-flammable option suitable for stationary and grid storage in situations where the risk of fire increases as the mercury rises. And with low, industry-leading levelized cost of storage (LCOS) and the ability to support a wide, software configurable range of discharge durations, Alsym batteries can be used for short, medium, and long-duration storage applications without the need for multiple solutions. “As the clean energy transition accelerates, it’s becoming more apparent that a single battery technology is not ideal for every use case, and that more options are needed to help address the challenges of a changing climate,” said Mukesh Chatter, CEO and Co-Founder of Alsym Energy. “This funding round represents a significant vote of confidence in our approach to developing new, non-flammable battery chemistries that combine high performance and low cost with a high level of safety. It gives us the ability to speed our pace of development, increase our capacity to provide samples to both existing and prospective customers, and ultimately get our first product to market as quickly as possible.” “Battery storage systems can help provide firm capacity to the grid when the sun is not shining and wind is not blowing, but changing climates and hazardous environments demand flexible solutions that can meet a range of needs safely and economically,” said Dr. Kripa Varanasi, Co-Founder of Alsym Energy, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, and thought leader in decarbonization and sustainability. “Alsym batteries are ideally suited to both temperate and warming climates, as well as infrastructure and industrial applications including datacenters, steel mills, and chemical plants. Our low-cost, non-toxic technology will help make decarbonization economically feasible in the developed world as well as G-77 nations, allowing everyone to play a role in the clean energy future.” “As we continue to see record scaling of renewable energy resources around the world, the practical constraints and supply chain uncertainties of lithium-ion batteries have become more acute, driving demand for alternatives that compete on performance, cost, and availability. This is particularly salient in emerging markets, where battery storage will be critical to driving down the cost of clean energy,” said Genevieve Kinney, partner at General Catalyst. “Alsym’s low-cost batteries combine performance and safety, and their strategic partnerships reflect one of the key pillars of our Global Resilience thesis, which relies on radical collaboration with established industry partners to scale new, critical technologies. With this partnership, we believe Alsym is well-positioned to drive a more sustainable future around the world.” --- ## Alsym Energy: Protect Your Battery-Powered Tech Investments This Winter URL: https://www.alsym.com/alsym-energy-protect-your-battery-powered-tech-investments-this-winter/ Cold weather can diminish performance in expensive lithium-ion batteries and even lead to permanent damage Alsym™ Energy, a leading developer of non-lithium rechargeable battery technology, has issued a list of practical tips for consumers to protect their electric vehicles (EVs), lawn equipment, and other products that use expensive lithium-ion batteries as cold weather sets in across North America. While these devices have fewer reliability issues and are cleaner to operate than their gas-powered counterparts, sub-freezing temperatures can trigger chemical reactions inside lithium-ion batteries that reduce overall health and longevity, as well as increase the risk of battery failures and resulting fires. “Despite their increased presence in back yards and driveways, lithium-ion batteries experience reduced performance in relatively common winter conditions. In fact, storing and charging them in sub-zero temperatures may even cause damage that can lead to fires in spring and summer months,” said Alsym co-founder and CEO Mukesh Chatter. “As advocates for a new generation of non-flammable, non-toxic rechargeable battery technologies, we consider it our duty to help consumers protect their investments in expensive current-generation lithium-ion devices as well as help minimize potential risks to life and property.” Alsym’s five lithium-ion battery tips for consumers this winter: Park EVs in garages to prevent exposure to the lowest temperatures. While lithium-ion batteries can discharge at temperatures as low as -5 F / -20 C, performance is significantly reduced below 32 F / 0 C. Charging them in sub-freezing conditions can even result in permanent damage and increased risk of failure. Unless the manufacturer has advised against doing so due to a known safety issue or recall, parking your EV inside during winter is the easiest way to protect your investment and ensure peak performance. Allow cold EV batteries to warm up before using them. Before driving in cold weather, EV owners should warm their car’s interior to the battery’s optimum temperature. You can do this while plugged in to avoid draining the battery. This process is often referred to as “preheating” your vehicle, most cars can do this autonomously or on a pre-set schedule. Batteries discharge the most energy when they’re in their ideal temperature range, which means you’ll get more miles out of each charge. Preheating is also important for battery life, as cold weather puts extra strain on the battery. If you repeatedly drive with a cold battery, you should expect reduced performance in all conditions. Store batteries for lawn equipment inside if possible and top them off regularly. Like EVs, lithium-ion batteries used in electric leaf blowers, lawn mowers and power tools can also be damaged by cold temperatures. But unlike EVs, most of these devices use removeable batteries that can be safely stored indoors—as long as they’re not neglected. Lithium-ion batteries can be damaged if fully discharged for more than a short time, and a good rule of thumb is to recharge them when they get below 25% capacity. If you can’t take a battery inside, monitor its state of charge every 1-2 weeks. While new lithium-ion batteries only lose 3% – 5% of charge per month under ideal operating conditions, that rate increases as the mercury drops—especially for older batteries. If you own battery-powered devices that can’t go inside and don’t see use in the winter, set a reminder to top them up regularly. Disconnect chargers after the charging cycle is complete. It’s not always possible to spot a battery with internal damage, and risk of failure and fire is always highest when batteries are charging. Most rechargeable batteries should be disconnected as soon as possible after reaching a full charge to avoid a potential overcharging situation. As always, reference the manual that came with your EV, lawn equipment or other battery-powered products and follow the recommendations provided. --- ## Alsym Energy Announces Industry’s First High-Performance, Non-Flammable Battery Storage Option Suitable for Warm Climates URL: https://www.alsym.com/alsym-energy-announces-industrys-first-high-performance-non-flammable-battery-storage-option-suitable-for-warm-climates/ Announcement comes ahead of CEO’s scheduled talk at the FII7 conference in Riyadh Alsym™ Energy, a leading developer of non-lithium rechargeable battery technology, announced that it has successfully developed the industry’s first high-performance, non-flammable battery storage technology suitable for warmer climates. Climates with abundant sun or wind are ideally suited to renewable energy production. This presents a generational opportunity to bring new, diverse industries to the Middle East; however, expensive, fire-prone battery technologies are serious impediments to ambitious plans for rapid growth. With system-level capacities like lithium-ion and the ability to operate at elevated temperatures common to the region, Alsym batteries are safe to use in any environment. Alsym batteries also cost less than lithium-ion and require less cooling equipment, significantly increasing system efficiency and lowering both acquisition and operating costs. “The Alsym team has developed an entirely new battery technology that’s ideally suited to the needs of a rapidly changing climate. This is the kind of innovative thinking that will help accelerate the pace of global decarbonization,” said Alsym advisor Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Founder and Executive Chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation. “Low-cost renewable energy, paired with non-flammable storage, will substantially help countries around the world reduce greenhouse gas emissions and spur new interest from power-intensive industries such as automotive, aerospace, green hydrogen, chemicals, and metals.” “When it comes to lithium-ion batteries, the level of fire risk increases as the mercury rises,” said Alsym CEO & Co-Founder Mukesh Chatter. “Recent battery storage fires in Australia, France, and the United States have required evacuations and shelter-in-place orders, and some cities are considering significant restrictions and even bans. We need to be looking beyond lithium-ion if we’re going to safely and responsibly deploy the amount of battery storage necessary to make a full transition to renewables.” The announcement comes as Mr. Chatter prepares to deliver remarks at the 7th Edition of the Future Investment Initiative Institute’s upcoming flagship conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (FII7). Mr. Chatter, whose presentation is entitled “Renaissance in Renewables: Fact or Fiction,” will deliver his remarks on Day 1 of FII7, at 3 p.m. on October 24, on the Open Stage. First organized in 2017 by the FII Institute, a global nonprofit foundation with an investment arm that seeks to turn ideas into real-world solutions, the FII7 conference will be held October 24-26 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Featuring an interactive program designed to help investors recalibrate the pathways for their companies and for the global economy, the conference brings together the world’s leading investors, business leaders, policymakers, inventors, and explorers to navigate new frontiers of economic growth and prosperity. --- ## Alsym Energy Commends New York Governor Hochul’s Fire Safety Initiative, Recommends Increased Focus on Non-Lithium Battery Technologies URL: https://www.alsym.com/alsym-energy-commends-new-york-governor-hochuls-fire-safety-initiative-recommends-increased-focus-on-non-lithium-battery-technologies/ Alternative non-flammable chemistries can help to de-risk energy storage projects Alsym™ Energy, a leading developer of non-lithium rechargeable battery technology, commends New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s swift and proactive response to fire safety concerns at energy storage facilities. Establishing the Inter-Agency Fire Safety Working Group reflects the state’s promise to the protection and well-being of its citizens. The recent fires at energy storage facilities in New York, including one on a public school campus, have underscored the importance of vigilance in this rapidly evolving industry. Governor Hochul’s decisive action in forming the Inter-Agency Fire Safety Working Group highlights her commitment to immediate safety inspections and the long-term establishment of best practices. “New York has long been a leader when it comes to battery energy storage policy, and the formation of this new working group proves that the state is committed to ensuring that public safety comes first,” says Alsym CEO and Co-Founder Mukesh Chatter. “In light of recent developments, we encourage the Inter-Agency Fire Safety Working Group to also dedicate time to exploring safer, non-lithium battery options that can be sited in urbanized areas without putting citizens at unnecessary risk.” A member of the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium, Alsym Energy fully supports these efforts and stands ready to support state agencies, first responders, and local leaders as they work to ensure the safety and reliable operation of energy storage systems across the state. --- ## Alsym Energy: Lithium-Ion Batteries Pose Dangers for Hospitals URL: https://www.alsym.com/alsym-energy-lithium-ion-batteries-pose-dangers-for-hospitals/ Energy innovator warns against potential safety and health impacts after 80 are evacuated and 3 injured in Florida hospital battery failure Alsym™ Energy, a developer of next-generation rechargeable batteries, echoes the concerns of hospital administrators after lithium-ion batteries went into thermal runaway and released hydrogen gas at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Outpatient Care in Tampa, FL. Following the hospitalization of three employees and evacuation of the facility, 18 fire rescue units, 24 hazmat technicians, and the Hillsborough County bomb squad were called in to inspect and remove the batteries. “A children’s hospital should be one of the safest places in the world for a child, but instead more than 80 people were evacuated and three hospital employees experienced respiratory distress after 30 lithium-ion batteries in an MRI lab released hazardous gases,” says Mukesh Chatter, President, CEO and Co-Founder of Alsym Energy. “Thankfully hospital staff noticed a burning smell and reacted quickly to contact first responders and evacuate patients. But how many other hospitals have similar batteries waiting to fail? Three injuries is three too many, and our kids and medical professionals deserve better than this.” Not only did the damaged batteries continue to release hydrogen into the hospital after evacuation, first responders had considerable difficulty removing the batteries from their storage compartment due to swelling. Two of the 100-pound batteries were visibly ruptured, which could have led to a fire or explosion had a spark or other ignition source been introduced nearby. “Medical devices like MRI scanners need batteries to help regulate the flow of electricity and prevent damage in the event of an outage, but what good is a battery in a hospital if it has the potential to actually create additional health and safety risks?” Chatter continued. “We need new, safer, battery chemistries to help ensure our hospitals never have to be evacuated due to hazardous gases or fires.” --- ## As California Fire Season Ramps Up, Lithium-Ion Grid Storage Batteries Could Complicate Disaster Response URL: https://www.alsym.com/as-california-fire-season-ramps-up-lithium-ion-grid-storage-batteries-could-complicate-disaster-response/ Grid storage fire risks are making alternative battery chemistries critical, warns tech innovator WOBURN, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Alsym™ Energy, a developer of next-generation rechargeable batteries, is raising awareness of the dangers of using lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries in grid storage facilities, especially in California and other areas that are prone to wildfires. As California enters its peak fire season, highly flammable and toxic Li-ion batteries may be vulnerable to catching fire or failing due to elevated ambient temperatures, creating additional instability in the power grid as climate change causes increasingly devastating wildfires. Grid storage fires are especially dangerous in California, where wildfires are on the rise. When a single battery storage container at the Moss Landing Elkhorn Battery Energy Storage Facility in CA caught fire in October 2022, it took two fire crews with four engines nine hours to extinguish the blaze, with several first responders staying on-site overnight in case of re-ignition. While the response was manageable in that instance, a fire at a battery storage facility during a wildfire could divert significant first-responder resources away from the larger disaster. “As more states adopt renewable power sources, storage becomes increasingly vital to grid stability. But most storage facilities use lithium-ion batteries, which can catch fire or generate toxic gasses if they get too hot,” says Alsym CEO Mukesh Chatter. “Not only do burning Li-ion batteries release harmful chemicals into the air and soil, losing storage capacity has the potential to significantly disrupt fragile power grids and complicate disaster response—a major issue for hospitals, communications systems, and other infrastructure that may have limited backup capacity.” The growing popularity of lithium-ion home storage systems could further complicate fire responses. While local utilities require a 100-foot firebreak around substations, the same does not apply to residences in wooded areas. During a wildfire, batteries located in garages or attached to exterior walls may catch fire when exposed to flames or high temperatures, creating a dangerous situation for residents and first responders alike. “Clean energy initiatives put more focus on renewables, requiring more storage to manage intermittent supply,” says Dr. Kripa Varanasi, Alsym Co-Founder and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. “When it comes to wildfires, burning lithium-ion batteries would make a bad situation worse. We need new inherently non-flammable battery chemistries that do not contain toxic materials to serve our energy needs without endangering our environment, our homes, and our lives.” --- ## Alsym Energy: Fires in Warwick, NY Highlight Dangers of Lithium-Ion Storage in Urban Centers URL: https://www.alsym.com/alsym-energy-fires-in-warwick-ny-highlight-dangers-of-lithium-ion-storage-in-urban-centers/ Energy tech innovator joins city officials in urging communities to re-evaluate safety protocols, zoning, and permit requirements for lithium-ion storage systems near schools, parks, and other high-density areas WOBURN, Mass., July 12, 2023 – Alsym™ Energy, a developer of next-generation rechargeable batteries, joined the Warwick, New York, Village Board in questioning the circumstances that led to two concurrent fires at Convergent Energy battery storage facilities, one of which is located on a public school campus. While the fires did not lead to any injuries thanks to the rapid response of the Warwick Fire Department, this incident only highlights the dangers of the lithium-ion batteries, which are both flammable and prone to releasing toxic chemicals in a fire. “The two lithium-ion battery fires in Warwick, NY are indicative of several critical issues facing the energy storage sector,” says Mukesh Chatter, CEO of Alsym Energy. “Even though battery companies claim that the lower-energy lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries used in both installations are safer than higher energy options, these incidents show that they can still catch fire and threaten the health and safety of people living and working nearby. A flammable battery technology, combined with insufficient first responder training and a puzzling choice of site, could have been a recipe for disaster. Luckily school was not in session and no one was hurt, but if the fire on the school campus had happened a month earlier, the situation could have been much different. “We agree with Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton that municipalities should take more time to evaluate safety protocols specific to lithium-ion storage systems, and would also encourage communities to reevaluate zoning and permitting requirements to prevent these facilities from being sited near schools, parks, and other places where large numbers of people congregate. We also find Fire Chief Contaxis’s statement that he received minimal training on these systems to be concerning, and suggest that local leaders take time to learn about newer non-flammable, non-lithium storage options that can serve similar needs with a lower risk factor.” About Alsym Energy Alsym Energy has developed an innovative low-cost, high-performance rechargeable battery chemistry that’s free of lithium and cobalt, and ideal for applications such as stationary storage, maritime shipping, and electric vehicles. By using readily available, inherently non-toxic and non-flammable battery materials, Alsym is working to deliver wide-duration storage with performance comparable to lithium ion at a much lower cost, helping to speed the pace of decarbonization globally. The company is based in Woburn, Massachusetts. To learn more, please visit www.alsym.com. --- ## Alsym Energy Emerges From Stealth To Provide Low-Cost, High-Performance Rechargeable Batteries URL: https://www.alsym.com/alsym-energy-emerges-from-stealth-to-provide-low-cost-high-performance-rechargeable-batteries/ Alsym’s inherently non-flammable batteries, made from readily available materials without lithium or cobalt, will be produced for EVs, stationary storage, and marine applications WOBURN, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Alsym™ Energy, a developer of next-generation rechargeable batteries, today announced that it is emerging from stealth to offer energy storage solutions for electric vehicles (EVs), stationary storage, and marine applications. Alsym’s battery technology promises to provide the performance of lithium-ion batteries at a fraction of the cost and without the inherent risk of fire. The company’s batteries are also less sensitive to raw material shortages and price volatility due to their use of low-cost materials with robust supply chains. To accelerate the development of these affordable battery systems, Alsym is partnering with a leading India-based automaker in a joint effort to develop Alsym’s batteries for EVs. Conditional on key performance levels being met, the automaker will contract with Alsym to supply a minimum of 3 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year of battery systems for use in its products. Alsym is also in talks with companies in the marine shipping and electric two-wheeler markets to develop similar partnerships. “Lithium is inherently flammable, and there are numerous risks that accompany all lithium-based battery technologies,” said Mukesh Chatter, CEO and Co-Founder of Alsym Energy. “Alsym Energy is on a mission to provide the world with cost-effective energy storage solutions using advanced, inherently non-flammable battery materials beyond lithium, made from non-toxic, readily available resources to power the growing mobility and stationary storage industries. We’re excited to work with industry partners to produce the next generation of batteries and to validate the innovations that will enable widespread access to clean electricity on a global scale.” Alsym’s team of scientists and product developers is working to deliver and scale clean, energy-dense batteries that will be available at prices that are affordable to nearly anyone around the world. Founded in 2015, Alsym has raised $32 million to date from investors including Helios Climate Ventures. “We’re seeing global competition to bring new batteries to market. Most companies are focused primarily on performance and put little thought into also making their batteries safer and more cost-effective—especially for the developing world where consumers are more price-sensitive,” said Nitin Nohria, Ph.D., Chairman of Alsym Energy’s Board of Business Advisors and former Dean of the Harvard Business School. “The team at Alsym Energy is working to ensure that their batteries not only meet performance expectations at reduced cost, but also avoid most of the supply chain challenges associated with lithium-based technologies. Not only are Alsym batteries sustainable, but the company’s business model is sustainable as well.” The company estimates that Alsym batteries will cost less than half of current lithium-based batteries, enabling automakers to offer EVs at prices lower than comparable models with internal combustion engines. Using non-flammable, non-toxic materials removes many end-of-life concerns often associated with batteries, and Alsym batteries are much easier to recycle, helping ease the burden on waste processors, landfills, and others tasked with managing battery waste. Alsym is currently in the process of developing a 500-kWh prototype manufacturing facility in Massachusetts. Because the materials used are non-flammable and non-toxic, Alsym batteries can be easily built in nearly any industrial site. They can also be made in existing lithium-ion battery factories with little to no retrofitting required, at lower operating cost and without the need for expensive dry rooms, fire locks, and solvent recovery systems. About Alsym Energy Alsym™ Energy is a leading developer of advanced low-cost, high-performance rechargeable batteries made from readily available materials that are inherently non-flammable and non-toxic, providing an economically viable alternative to lithium-based technologies. The company is focused on commercial development and mass production of batteries for use in applications including passenger electric vehicles and two-wheelers, marine shipping, and stationary energy storage to enable a zero-carbon future. To learn more, please visit www.alsym.com --- # Optional ## Alsym at RE+ 2026 URL: https://www.alsym.com/replus/ RE+ 2026 Nov 16–19 Las Vegas Convention Center Alsym team attending Sodium-ion cells for your next BESS container Integrators and project developers: the Alsym Energy team will be at RE+. Book time with us to learn about the Na-Series, a high-performance, low-cost sodium-ion cell that does not enter thermal runaway and can operate on passive cooling. It’s made with materials from a U.S. and free-trade-partner supply chain and can be manufactured on existing lithium lines without retooling. Request a meeting Na Na-SeriesNFPP+ sodium-ion chemistry 15,000cycles 2C / 2Ccharge / discharge capable Operating window−40 °C to 60 °C −40 0 30 60 °C For BESS integrators What a non-flammable cell changes in your system design The Na-Series goes inside your containers, racks and enclosures. Its chemistry removes the thermal-runaway risk that drives much of a lithium-ion system’s safety, cooling and siting overhead. Safety No thermal runaway Performance No active cooling Economics 75% lower OpEx Supply chain Secure supply chain Momentum Integrators and partners are already committing 24 GWhin customer commitments 9 GWhstrategic partnership with ERITY for mining 500 MWhagreement with Juniper Energy GWh-scalemanufacturing planned by 2028 Meet us at RE+ 2026 Book time with the Alsym team in Las Vegas We’re attending RE+, November 16–19. Tell us a little about your company and we’ll set up a time and place to meet during the show. One-on-one time with our product and engineering leads Evaluation and supply discussion for your upcoming projects Request received Thanks. We’ll be in touch to schedule your RE+ meeting. Our team will reach out before the show to confirm a time and place to meet. EventRE+ 2026 DatesNovember 16–19, 2026 VenueLas Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV Meet usBy appointment with the Alsym team --- ## Conferences URL: https://www.alsym.com/conferences/ Conferences We're so glad you found Alsym Energy at a conference. Please complete the form below to sign up for our newsletter. --- ## Accessibility URL: https://www.alsym.com/accessibility/ Accessibility Last updated: September 25, 2025 Accessibility Statement Alsym is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible experience to everyone, including individuals with disabilities. Alsym’s Commitment Our commitment is guided by our accessibility policy to ensure that people with disabilities have full and equal opportunity to access and benefit from the services offered by Alsym through www.alsym.com. What Web Accessibility Is An accessible site allows visitors with disabilities to browse the site with the same or a similar level of ease and enjoyment as other visitors. This can be achieved with the capabilities of the system on which the site is operating and through assistive technologies. Accessibility Adjustments on This Site We have adapted this site in accordance with WCAG 2.2. This site’s contents have been adapted to work with assistive technologies, such as screen readers and keyboard use. As part of this effort, we have also: Used the Accessibility Wizard to find and fix potential accessibility issues Set the language of the site Set the content order of the site’s pages Defined clear heading structures on all of the site’s pages Added alternative text to images Implemented color combinations that meet the required color contrast Reduced the use of motion on the site Ensured all videos, audio, and files on the site are accessible Declaration of Partial Compliance Due to Third-Party Content The accessibility of certain parts of the site depends on content provided by third parties outside the organization. As a result, we declare partial compliance with accessibility standards for these areas. Feedback How can we improve accessibility? We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of www.alsym.com. Please share your experience with us: Email: info@alsym.com Compatibility alsym.com is designed to be compatible with assistive technologies and the last two versions of major browsers including Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Assistive technologies include NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver, and TalkBack screen readers. www.alsym.com may not display optimally in Internet Explorer 10 or older browsers. Evaluation Alsym also engages in interval audits, regular web page scans, and testing by professionals with disabilities to continually assess and improve the accessibility of www.alsym.com. Training Alsym further invests in training on accessibility for our digital team to ensure our web content personnel, developers, designers, and other team members are knowledgeable and follow best practices for accessibility. Requests, Issues, and Suggestions If you find an accessibility issue on the site, or if you require further assistance, you are welcome to contact us. Resources NVDA screen reader (free) W3C Web Accessibility Initiative The Americans with Disabilities Act Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ---