Form Energy Raises $750 Million to Produce 100-Hour Batteries

Form Energy, an innovative energy-sector startup, has announced that it raised $750 million in investment to expand its manufacturing capacity in West Virginia. According to ixbt.com, this financial milestone is another clear sign that the rapid construction of AI data centers is sharply increasing demand for energy storage systems. Techcrunch.com reports it.

During the first three months of this year, energy storage systems with a combined capacity of 9.7 gigavatt-soat were installed in the United States, 32 percent more than during the same period last year. While most batteries on the market can deliver energy for no more than a few hours, the iron-air batteries developed by Form Energy can provide power for up to 100 hours.

Advantages of Long-Duration Energy Storage Technology

Long-duration energy storage systems play an important role in addressing the intermittency of renewable energy sources. More than 90 percent of new electricity-generation capacity added in the United States this year is expected to come from renewables. Because Form Energy uses less expensive iron instead of costly lithium, cobalt and nickel, it can store massive amounts of electricity at a significantly lower cost.

Inside the battery, iron oxidizes during discharge and is restored during charging—in other words, the battery turns iron into rust while delivering energy and reverses the process afterward. This unique approach has enabled the company to attract major customers. For example, Google is building a new data center in Minnesota that will be partially supplied by a massive Form battery with a capacity of 30 gigavatt-soat and a price tag of nearly $1 billion.

Data Centers and Electricity Demand

For the first time in decades, electricity demand is rising in the United States, mainly because of data centers. Experts forecast that data centers will quadruple their energy consumption by 2035, accounting for nearly 20 percent of all electricity generated in the country. Major utilities such as Xcel Energy and FuturEnergy Ireland have also joined Form Energy’s customer base.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the startup’s current commercial project backlog has reached 80 gigavatt-soat of energy storage capacity, quadrupling since the beginning of the year. The company’s U.S.-based supply chain plays an important role in ensuring security: approximately 80 percent of its raw materials come from the United States, while the rest is supplied by Europe and Asia.

T. Rowe Price led the Series G funding round, which also included Sequoia Capital, Janus Henderson, Franklin Templeton, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and many other prominent investment funds and venture capital firms. This highlights how important such technologies are to building the energy infrastructure of the future.