USA energy utility Xcel Energy and liquid metal battery company Ambri have settled on a 300kWh system size for their test project. 

The companies will test Ambri’s calcium alloy and antimony liquid-metal battery at the Solar Technology Acceleration Center (SolarTAC) in Colorado, USA. The installation is planned to begin in early 2024 and the 12-month test will use the GridNXT Microgrid Platform at SolarTAC to integrate multiple energy generation sources, including solar and wind together with inverters, load banks, and 3-phase distribution connections and communications. 

Project Blue expects energy storage system (ESS) battery demand to ramp up at a CAGR of 18.9% over the next ten years. While lithium-ion batteries will be a stronger force to reckon with in automotive applications, non-lithium-ion technologies are expected to make relatively bigger inroads in stationary grid applications, such as vanadium redox flow batteries or new and emerging battery technologies. 

The antimony metal market is largely driven by lead-acid batteries, which according to Project Blue data will become self-sufficient via a mature recycling industry over the next decade. The market for primary mined antimony is now largely determined by non-metallurgical applications such as flame retardants and plastics and a declining supply narrative is currently overhanging the industry. But back to metallurgical antimony, changes in lead-acid batteries have also seen a reduced loading of antimony in lead alloys, which will accelerate a surplus secondary supply stream. A key issue for second-life antimonial lead will be dependent on the economics of refining high-purity antimony for new applications.