The partnership will see the delivery of Ambri cells to NEC taking place in the fourth quarter of 2019
Image: NEC has entered into a deal with Ambri to develop energy storage systems. Photo: courtesy of rawpixel/Pixabay.
NEC Energy Solutions and Ambri have entered into a joint development agreement (JDA) to develop an energy storage system based on the latter’s liquid metal battery technology.
According to the terms of the deal, NEC will use its Aeros energy storage operating system and controls to optimise the performance of the Ambri-based energy storage systems.
The partnership is aimed at improving the performance of the energy storage systems for NEC customers that could include utilities, independent power producers (IPPs) and project developers.
Under the terms of the agreement, the delivery of Ambri cells to NEC will take place in the fourth quarter of 2019 and NEC has committed to a minimum purchase of 200MWh of cells.
NEC said systems will be targeted at applications with durations of four-hours or more, and where the daily full depth of discharge cycling is expected. The systems will be suitable for shifting large amounts of renewable energy and grid-system peak shaving.
NEC Energy Solutions CEO Steve Fludder said: “Based on our knowledge and testing of Ambri’s technology, we feel this chemistry could be a great answer to the energy industry’s need for a low cost, long-life storage solution.
“Ambri’s technology enables safe and reliable energy storage with potentially the lowest levelized cost of storage in the industry. NEC’s collaboration with Ambri is a great example of our initiative to explore promising future technologies for energy storage solutions.”
Features of Ambri’s cells
Ambri’s duration cells are claimed to deliver 100% depth of discharge cycling performance every day for more than 20 years with negligible degradation at a lower system cost than other battery storage technologies. The duration cells are based on its patented calcium || antimony chemistry.
The systems built with Ambri’s cells are said to work safely under all environmental conditions without the need for air conditioning or fire suppression equipment.
Ambri executive chairman Dan Leff said: “We’re delighted that NEC’s industry-leading system integration team will develop the first systems with Ambri cells.
“We’ve received inquiries world-wide from developers, IPPs and utilities for Ambri-based systems who seek a lower cost and safer battery that does not suffer from degradation due to usage. We look forward to helping NEC support these customers with commercial systems based on our technology.”