Energy storage technology company Certain Energy announced today that it has raised £10 million (USD$13.6 million) in a Series A funding round, with proceeds aimed at supporting the deployment of its long-duration, low cost solution to store energy to help stabilize grids and provide power during periods of low renewables production.
Founded in 2017 as a spin-off from Imperial College, London-based Certain Energy (formerly RFC Power) develops manganese-based flow battery technology for long-duration energy storage, designed to store clean energy for periods ranging from hours to days and support electricity grid stability.
Certain Energy’s flow batteries are based on manganese, the twelfth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust. Unlike conventional batteries, the system can extend discharge duration by simply increasing the size of its electrolyte tanks, enabling storage from hours to days, the company said.
According to the company, its technology achieves round-trip efficiency of more than 75%, enabling it to compete economically with lithium-ion batteries for key grid services while providing the resilience and reserve capabilities required by grids with increasing levels of renewable power.
The company added that its design and use of abundant materials have the potential to reduce marginal storage costs to around one-tenth of those of comparable vanadium flow batteries and much cheaper than lithium-ion energy storage systems.
Certain Energy said that the new capital will be used to scale its technology for volume production, including developing of a grid-connected MWh-class system in India, expanding its UK research facilities, and creating a supply chain needed to support the delivery of replicable projects.
Mark Selby, Certain Energy Executive Chair, said:
“Last year, the UK Government spent around £1.5 billion asking renewable energy providers to shut off their operations during peak production, and left unaddressed, the grid operator expects that to climb towards £8 billion a year by 2030. The answer is long duration energy storage and Certain Energy has the technology and now the funding to deliver highly efficient, affordable batteries, based on abundant materials, to make this a reality.”
The funding 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).
Charlotte Lawrence, Managing Director and Head of Direct Equity at the British Business Bank, said:
“Certain Energy’s technology has proved it can deliver longer duration storage while reducing costs, with potential applications not only in the UK, but across the globe. Our investment will help Certain Energy commercialise and take the next steps towards deployment.”
