The battery technology will be supplied to Pine Gate Renewables for their growing pipeline of solar-coupled and standalone energy storage projects across the country.
A leading solar and energy storage developer, Pine Gate has over 1 GW of operating solar assets in the US with over 16 GW in active development, including hybrid, standalone solar, and standalone energy storage projects. The agreement with Urban Electric Power allows Pine Gate access to its batteries each year, under preferential terms, that will enable their customers the freedom to choose a technology that meets long-term reliability, energy and capacity needs.
Urban Electric Power’s patented technology tweaks the chemistry of the familiar household AA battery to make it rechargeable. This enables safer, more affordable energy storage solutions, which the New York-based company offers under the Ohm label to homes and commercial and industrial customers, and to utility-scale infrastructure projects branded as Zeus. The batteries are assembled at its factory in Pearl River, New York, creating US manufacturing jobs in a fast-growing industry.
The zinc alkaline cells avoid several issues, that are otherwise known challenges with other battery chemistries including lithium - such as high integration costs, short and uncertain supply, geopolitical complications, and tendency to fuel fires that are hard to extinguish, a problem known as thermal runaway.
The Urban Electric Power products are certified to UL standards as not subject to thermal runaway, meaning they are fire-safe for indoor installations in cities. They contain no cobalt, whose mining in Africa carries human rights concerns; nor lead, which is responsible for exposing 1 in 3 children worldwide to lead poisoning.
Under development since 2012 by researchers at City College of New York, the rechargeable zinc alkaline technology has already been tested and proven for large-scale uses such as in the San Diego Supercomputer Centre, and at commercial-industrial locations to offer backup power and dispatchable energy storage to the power grid.
“As we phase out fossil fuels and add distributed renewables, demand will only grow for replacing old battery technology with cost-effective energy storage that is safer, longer-lasting, and more environmentally friendly” said Ann Marie Augustus, Urban Electric Power’s Vice President of Operations. “We offer non-toxic, utility-scale battery energy storage with no thermal runaway fire risk, at a cost and environmental footprint less than standard lithium-ion or lead batteries.”
Pine Gate Renewables is focused on project development and strategic financing of solar and storage projects throughout the United States. The company’s Pine Gate Impact initiative contributes to multiple non-profit organisations aimed at improving the environment and local communities. Headquartered in Asheville, NC, Pine Gate Renewables made the Inc. 5000 list in 2021, placing at #37 and named to Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list in 2021.
For additional information:
