Iron-sodium battery to back up fire-prone community in California

The US Department of Energy has granted $4.1 million to Inlyte Energy to deploy grid-scale batteries in a microgrid in northern California.

From pv magazine USA

Iron-sodium battery energy storage system specialist Inlyte Energy has secured a $4.1 million grant from the US Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity to deploy a grid-scale battery in a fire-prone region of northern California. The funds come from the department’s Critical Facility Energy Resilience program.

The resilience-focused installation will provide power resources for a critical evacuation zone, reduce facility electricity costs and provide a diesel-free alternative for long-duration backup power.

The battery will be installed in a microgrid at the Alliance Redwoods Conference Grounds in Sonoma County, California. The installation includes a planned 570 kW solar array and Inlyte’s 200 kW/4 MWh battery system. The installation, which includes 20-hour long duration storage, is expected to reduce the facility’s annual electricity costs by up to $300,000.

Located in a Tier-3 High Fire Threat Zone, the microgrid campus at Alliance Redwoods serves as a designated community evacuation center and a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection staging area. The project will also provide backup power for Russian River Utility’s nearby water pump station.

“With Inlyte’s battery and our solar array, we can operate independently from the grid during outages at a greatly reduced cost,” said Mike Dethlefsen, Board Member at Alliance Redwoods. “Crucially, it ensures we can remain operational to serve our community and power other critical local infrastructure when the grid goes down.”

Inlyte’s iron-sodium batteries are selected for their non-flammable chemistry. Lithium-ion batteries, the conventional chemistry for grid-scale batteries, carry some risk of fire, though grid-scale batteries are typically outfit with advanced fire detection and suppression systems.

Vital Energy Solutions will manage project development, engineering and construction, integrating a microgrid and Inlyte’s iron-sodium battery. The project is scheduled to reach operations in 2027. The project’s performance will be third-party evaluated by project partners Electric Power Research Institute and Pacific Northwest National Laboratories.

The iron-sodium batteries are manufactured in the United States.