Fossil fuels receive an ominous energy storage message from Google, and it's far from pleasing
Google Partners with Energy Dome for Long-Duration Energy Storage Technology
Google has announced a partnership with Energy Dome, an Italian startup, to deploy the company's CO2 Battery long-duration energy storage technology. This move introduces a strong competitor to Tesla's Megapack utility-scale batteries for long-duration storage, but it does not directly impact Tesla's products.
Energy Dome's CO2 Battery offers a unique approach to energy storage. It uses CO2 as the energy storage medium and mechanical rotating machinery to provide grid inertia, making it a potential scalability advantage over battery-based systems. The technology aims to enable carbon-free, firm, and reliable electricity at grid scale globally.
One key distinction from Tesla's Megapack is the use of CO2 as the energy storage medium. This approach potentially offers scalability advantages by avoiding supply chain bottlenecks associated with battery materials and contributing grid resiliency through inertia support.
The partnership between Google and Energy Dome underscores Google's commitment to diversify and scale advanced energy technologies as part of its goal to operate on 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030. Google plans to support multiple commercial projects globally to deploy Energy Dome's LDES technology.
The first project in the US, the Columbia Energy Storage Project, is located in Pacific, Wisconsin. Supported by Alliant Energy, the project aims to deliver enough electricity to power approximately 18,000 Wisconsin homes for 10 hours on a single charge, boosting grid stability and improving resilience.
Energy Dome's technology has been operating in a demonstration project in Italy for over three years. The company recently launched a new 20-megawatt commercial plant in Sardinia. Energy Dome claims to beat lithium-ion batteries by a wide margin, currently aiming for a duration of 8-24 hours.
The US Department of Energy has consistently made the case for long-duration energy storage systems that can deliver electricity for at least 10 hours. As wind and solar energy have become competitive with natural gas in many markets, energy storage is a key contributing factor in their competitiveness.
The Alliant Energy project in Wisconsin is expected to be up and running in 2027. Energy Dome also has a project under contract in India. Google's Director of EMEA Energy has emphasized that Energy Dome's LDES technology can contribute to more flexible, reliable grids and cost-effectively integrate a growing volume of renewables onto power systems.
In summary, Google's partnership with Energy Dome expands the landscape of available long-duration storage technologies that can complement or compete with Tesla's solutions in achieving large-scale carbon-free energy storage and grid reliability. The partnership underscores Google's commitment to renewable energy storage, leveraging the excess capacity of wind and solar projects to deliver carbon-free, firm, and reliable electricity at grid scale globally.
- The partnership between Google and Energy Dome not only introduces a competitor to Tesla's Megapack utility-scale batteries for long-duration storage, but also contributes to the expansion of the landscape for renewable energy storage.
- As Google aims to operate on 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030, the company plans to support multiple commercial projects globally to deploy Energy Dome's Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) technology.
- One of the projects supported by Google, the Columbia Energy Storage Project in Pacific, Wisconsin, aims to deliver enough electricity to power approximately 18,000 homes for 10 hours on a single charge, thereby boosting grid stability and improving resilience.
- Energy Dome's LDES technology potentially offers scalability advantages over battery-based systems due to its unique approach of using CO2 as the energy storage medium and mechanical rotating machinery to provide grid inertia.
- The amount of time that Energy Dome's LDES technology can store energy (8-24 hours) currently outperforms lithium-ion batteries, making it a promising solution for long-duration energy storage.
- Apart from Google, the US Department of Energy has consistently advocated for long-duration energy storage systems that can deliver electricity for at least 10 hours, recognizing their key role in the competitiveness of wind and solar energy in many markets.
