ROTTERDAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Some Capital Region communities have resisted battery energy storage systems being put near their homes, citing concerns of fires from lithium-ion batteries. One company says their system can do the same thing lithium-ion batteries can, for longer, without the risks of fire. Rotterdam Town Supervisor John Polimeni told NEWS10 he’s been speaking to the company Form Energy since he was elected in December.
“It was a pretty easy decision because it’s very safe, it’s an excellent technology,” said Polimeni. “It’s literally metal in water so there’s no fire capabilities.”
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An official from the company told NEWS10 the system creates energy through what officials call “reversible rusting.” The system is made of iron, water, air and an electric current. The energy produced would go to the electric grid if power were to be knocked out. Polimeni has been meeting with the company to learn about the process.
“There’s water in the unit and it creates rust and that rust then is removed and put back on,” said Polimeni. “Those electrons moving around store and release energy.”
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Form Energy shared a breakdown with NEWS10 of how the batteries work, explaining that when discharging, “the battery breathes in oxygen from the air and converts iron metal to rust, releasing energy to the grid.” When the batteries are charging, “the application of an electrical current converts the rust back to iron, and the battery breathes out oxygen.” This process is repeated, storing energy and discharging electricity “for up to 100 hours.” The technology demonstrated the “highest safety standards” against the risk of thermal runaway, which is the process of heat building up uncontrollably and leading to fires…