Stored potential

13 April 2016

University of Sydney spin-off Gelion has won international support worth $11 million for its nanostructured, gel-based batteries project.

Utility-scale solar energy company Armstrong Energy, which is based in the UK, says that its investment signals a long-term strategic growth partnership in the area of energy and battery storage.

Gelion is the brainchild of Professor Thomas Maschmeyer, the initiating director of the Australian Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology (the new facility launches at the University of Sydney on 20 April 2016).

The company produces zinc bromine batteries that are based on a novel design of nanostructured gels, and thus differ from other zinc bromide batteries that use a liquid and are larger in size.

The technology, which recently featured on ABC TV's Catalyst, is expected to be superior to current lithium ion technology in terms of charging/discharging speeds, size, safety, durability and price.

The initial market is electricity storage in buildings – both residential and commercial - which could have the batteries included as part of their structure. The batteries could be suitable for such an application as they are based on a flexible zinc bromine gel that potentially has no shelf life limitations.

The project has previously attracted attention from investors and strategic partners in the United States, Germany and Israel.

But with the backing from Armstrong Energy, a full commercial demonstration prototype could now be developed within four years.

According to a media release from the University of Sydney, moving towards localised storage of renewable energy will have significant advantages over grid-based battery storage technology, which are still too expensive, inefficient, and short-lived for broad-scale use.

Localised storage of renewably produced electricity would remove much of the need to remain integrated with the grid.

But the new batteries could also be used in centralised systems, and decrease the need for ‘spill’, and reduce wasted power generation in traditional plants.

Gelion also has the electric vehicles market in sight. Globally, the existing hybrid electric vehicle battery market has already reached a billion dollars a year, almost all of which is nickel metal hydride and lithium ion technology. Gelion's new battery design may present suitable alternatives, in a market that is still curtailed by the lack of truly competitive storage technology.

Story based on information provided by the University of Sydney