Form Energy: batteries iron based
Form Energy has developed iron-air batteries that are 10 times cheaper than lithium-ion batteries for large-scale electricity storage. The startup has raised over $800 million from prestigious investors such as Breakthrough Energy Ventures and the venture capital funds ofArcelorMittal and ENI.
Iron-air battery technology
Form Energy uses iron-air batteries: when they charge, the iron oxide reduces (= deoxidizes), with oxygen leaving the “air” electrode side (in reality, this happens in an electrolyte). Then, when the battery discharges, the electrons are released and the iron oxidizes again. The big advantage of this method is the extremely low cost of materials: iron is one of the cheapest metals available.
The disadvantage of iron-air batteries is their reactivity: they would have difficulty with high currents. However, this is not a problem: you just need to couple them with a small, more reactive storage, such as lithium-ion batteries or mechanical storage.
The company seems to be highlighting the fact that the battery would be“capable of supplying electricity for 100 hours“. This is a bit disturbing, since I don’t see how it makes sense: basically you can probably last for weeks on any battery if the flow rate is low enough …
According to Form Energy, large-scale batteries could cost as little as 10% of the LCOS price of their lithium-ion equivalents.
Form Energy history and progress
Form Energy’s progress
Form Energy was founded in 2017 by Mateo Jaramillo (former head of Tesla’s battery department), Yet Ming Chiang (MIT professor), Ted Wiley, William Woodford and Marco Ferrara.
A 300MW pilot project is planned in Minnesota for 2024.
On January 23, 2023, Xcel announced the installation of a very large Form Energy battery farm, one of the largest in the world.
Financing Form Energy
The company’s financing is quite extraordinary, both in terms of its amount ($818Mn) and the identity of its investors (Breakthrough Energy Ventures, ArcelorMittal, Energy Impact Partners, Capricorn Investment Groupe, Prelude Venture…). It breaks down as follows:
- The Series A round closed in June 2018 at $9M. Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), Prelude Ventures, The Engine (MIT) and Macquarie Capital invested.
- The Series B round was announced at $40M on August 19, 2019 and was led by ENI’s venture capital firm, Eni Next LLC. It includes Capricorn Investment Group and investors from the first round.
- The Series C round was announced on November 30, 2020 at $76M. Joining historic investors Coatue, NGP Energy Technology Partners III, Energy Impact Partners and Temasek.
- The Series D round in 2021 amounted to $240M, including $25M fromArcelorMittal. At the same time, the two companies signed an agreement under which ArcelorMittal would supply direct reduced iron for the batteries.
- Former Energy announces the closing of its $450 million Series E financing round on October 4, 2022, led by investment platform TPG Rise. Joining historical investors (ArcelorMittal, Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), Capricorn Investment Group, Coatue, Energy Impact Partners (EIP), MIT’s The Engine, NGP ETP, Temasek, Prelude Ventures, and VamosVentures) GIC and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
FAQ
Form Energy has raised $818.8 million.
From the very first investment round, Form Energy mobilized a number of major innovation players, including Breakthrough Energy Ventures and The Engine (MIT). They were subsequently joined by other major players, such as ArcelorMittal.
Form Energy is developing iron-air batteries, which would use very common materials (iron) and would be suitable for long-term stationary storage of electricity, which is one of the major challenges of the energy transition, to stabilize the electrical grid in the face of intermittent energies.
Form Energy was founded in 2017 by Mateo Jaramillo (former head of Tesla’s battery department), Yet Ming Chiang (MIT professor), Ted Wiley, William Woodford and Marco Ferrara.
Mateo Jaramillo is both co-founder and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Form Energy.
- A study by the Franhaufer Institute: https://www.umsicht.fraunhofer.de/en/projects/iron-air-battery.html