Certain Energy raises £10M Series A for long-duration battery storage

British
long-duration energy storage company Certain Energy has raised £10 million in
Series A funding to commercialise its manganese flow battery technology and
prepare it for grid-scale deployment. The round was led by the British Business Bank, with participation from Centrica, Ceres Power Holdings and Temasek
Trust’s Catalytic Capital for Climate and Health (C3H).

Founded
in 2017 as a spin-off from Imperial College London and previously known as RFC
Power, Certain Energy is developing long-duration energy storage (LDES) systems
designed to store renewable electricity and release it when production from
sources such as wind and solar is low. The technology is intended to help
stabilise electricity grids, reduce renewable energy curtailment and limit
reliance on gas-fired peaker plants.

As
renewable generation increases, electricity grids face periods when production
exceeds demand as well as periods when renewable output is insufficient.
Certain Energy is targeting this imbalance with flow batteries based on
manganese, an abundant element that the company says can provide a lower-cost
alternative to materials used in other long-duration storage technologies.

Unlike
conventional batteries, flow batteries store energy in liquid electrolytes held
in external tanks. Certain Energy’s system can increase its discharge duration
by expanding the size of these tanks, allowing energy to be stored and
discharged over periods ranging from hours to days.

According
to the company, its technology achieves round-trip efficiency of more than 75
per cent and is designed to compete with lithium-ion batteries for key grid
services while providing the longer-duration storage and reserve capacity
required by grids with increasing levels of renewable generation.

Certain
Energy’s patented electrolyte is designed for a 20-year operating life with
limited capacity degradation. The company also says its design and choice of
materials could reduce marginal storage costs to around one-tenth of those
associated with comparable vanadium flow batteries.

The
Series A funding will support the development of a grid-connected MWh-class
system in India, the expansion of Certain Energy’s UK research facility and the
development of a supply chain to support commercial deployments. The company
will also continue preparing its technology for volume production and broader
commercialisation.