Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CO2 Battery (CO2 based Utility-Scale Long Duration Energy Storage)
Reporting period: 2024-02-01 to 2025-03-31
Most projections suggest that in order for the world’s climate goals to be attained, the power sector needs to decarbonize fully by 2040. The global power industry is making giant strides toward reducing emissions by switching from fossil-fuel-fired power generation to predominantly wind and solar photovoltaic power. This is revolutionizing the energy systems, putting the energy sector players in a stressful situation and changing the electrical grid management approach. For more than a century, electrical grids have operated on the same model: large power sources generate power and channel it into a web of transmission lines and local distribution areas, never to return to the point of origin. This model is changing as the market shifts to newer, cleaner intermittent energy sources.
In addition, renewable energies are impacting the electricity price fluctuation. The large amount of electricity available in certain seasons and hours of the day lowers the price to values that are not convenient for the producers.
The energy storage sector must find technological solutions that are capable of:
-) improving the round-trip efficiency to avoid unsustainable losses of the energy stored
-) reducing the cost of investment and cost of operation
-) being installable anywhere and easily.
Current solutions fail in targeting these objectives, being expensive, site dependent, inefficient or at a very early stage of development. This is slowing the industry down and makes achieving the decarbonisation goals very difficult.
CO2 Battery is a revolutionary technology capable of profoundly changing the utility-scale long duration storage sector. Our performance metrics are:
-) CAPEX for First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) is 183 €/kWh against 300 €/kWh for Li-ion batteries
-) Round-trip efficiency (RTE) is greater than 75% without degradation over time.
-) Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS) is 68 €/MWh for a 10-hours storage. This is the most competitive value in the market for more than 8-hours storage sector.
-) The simplicity of CO2 Battery process and the installation of “off-the-shelf” mature technologies lead to a lifespan of the plant greater than 30 years.
-) Installing modules in parallel allows to reach the desired capacity for every application.
-) Our plants are made out of steel, CO2 and water, no rare or critical materials are required. This guarantees the stability of CO2 Battery’s CAPEX over time.
CO2 Battery is the right solution for all players of the energy sector: power producers, TSO, DSO, large C&I companies, off-grid communities. Our control system allows to manage all operational configurations: grid regulation, load following, energy shifting.
CO2 Battery will solve all pains and frustration of the stakeholders, being cost-competitive, reliable, and easy to install and manage.
In addition, renewable energies are impacting the electricity price fluctuation. The large amount of electricity available in certain seasons and hours of the day lowers the price to values that are not convenient for the producers.
The energy storage sector must find technological solutions that are capable of:
-) improving the round-trip efficiency to avoid unsustainable losses of the energy stored
-) reducing the cost of investment and cost of operation
-) being installable anywhere and easily.
Current solutions fail in targeting these objectives, being expensive, site dependent, inefficient or at a very early stage of development. This is slowing the industry down and makes achieving the decarbonisation goals very difficult.
CO2 Battery is a revolutionary technology capable of profoundly changing the utility-scale long duration storage sector. Our performance metrics are:
-) CAPEX for First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) is 183 €/kWh against 300 €/kWh for Li-ion batteries
-) Round-trip efficiency (RTE) is greater than 75% without degradation over time.
-) Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS) is 68 €/MWh for a 10-hours storage. This is the most competitive value in the market for more than 8-hours storage sector.
-) The simplicity of CO2 Battery process and the installation of “off-the-shelf” mature technologies lead to a lifespan of the plant greater than 30 years.
-) Installing modules in parallel allows to reach the desired capacity for every application.
-) Our plants are made out of steel, CO2 and water, no rare or critical materials are required. This guarantees the stability of CO2 Battery’s CAPEX over time.
CO2 Battery is the right solution for all players of the energy sector: power producers, TSO, DSO, large C&I companies, off-grid communities. Our control system allows to manage all operational configurations: grid regulation, load following, energy shifting.
CO2 Battery will solve all pains and frustration of the stakeholders, being cost-competitive, reliable, and easy to install and manage.
The CO2 Battery is a long duration large scale energy storage system based on a thermodynamic process that efficiently stores energy by manipulating CO2 under different state conditions with turbomachinery in a closed thermodynamic transformation.
The innovative solution developed with the support of main turbomachinery OEMs and sealing system suppliers guarantees that there are no losses of CO2 to the ambient in any different operating conditions.
During the first year, a new sealing solution was developed for all the turbomachinery needed in the CO2 Battery commercial scale size and also for the new axial CO2 compressor. The new system arrangement ended with the installation, commissioning and test of the turbine in July 2023; tests demonstrated that the turbine is completely gas-tight and there is no leakage of CO2 from the machine at any conditions.
Finally, the development of a new full scale CO2 compressor was approached; an existing machine developed for gas turbines was dismantled to be studied and subsequently modified to be able to operate with CO2, and the required modifications to the demo plant engineering were implemented to get prepated for full technology validation in the next few months. In parallel, a consistent set of dissemination and communication activities were carried out to increase the company visibility, reinforce the brand and prepare the ground for commercialization.
The company was successful in setting up in a timely manner a new compressor meeting expected technical standards (especially in terms of improved RTE), prepare for the technology validation and continue testing activities, using components that have been successfully engineered and purchased and are ready to be installed on the plant.
The innovative solution developed with the support of main turbomachinery OEMs and sealing system suppliers guarantees that there are no losses of CO2 to the ambient in any different operating conditions.
During the first year, a new sealing solution was developed for all the turbomachinery needed in the CO2 Battery commercial scale size and also for the new axial CO2 compressor. The new system arrangement ended with the installation, commissioning and test of the turbine in July 2023; tests demonstrated that the turbine is completely gas-tight and there is no leakage of CO2 from the machine at any conditions.
Finally, the development of a new full scale CO2 compressor was approached; an existing machine developed for gas turbines was dismantled to be studied and subsequently modified to be able to operate with CO2, and the required modifications to the demo plant engineering were implemented to get prepated for full technology validation in the next few months. In parallel, a consistent set of dissemination and communication activities were carried out to increase the company visibility, reinforce the brand and prepare the ground for commercialization.
The company was successful in setting up in a timely manner a new compressor meeting expected technical standards (especially in terms of improved RTE), prepare for the technology validation and continue testing activities, using components that have been successfully engineered and purchased and are ready to be installed on the plant.
Long Duration Energy Storage of massive amounts of electricity (utility scale systems) is the missing dot to make solar and wind dispatchable sources of energy allowing to decarbonize the energy sector. Without a convenient solution to store large quantities of energy it will be impossible to push further the penetration of Intermittent Renewable Energy Source (IRES) and to achieve the carbon neutrality target by 2050.
Current technologies are failing in terms of either performances, cost or environmental impact.
Our customers are energy players who have the capability to manage a utility-scale energy storage plant. They need LDES for solving their main pains:
-) Power Producers and Utilities need to increase renewable energy penetration and to face fluctuations in electricity price
-) Transmission and Distribution Operators have to upgrade the grids to improve flexibility and avoid unbalancing and curtailments
-) Commercial & Industrial Companies need to reduce their energy bill and increase renewable energy share in their consumption.
Thanks to CO2 Battery, they will benefit from:
- the lowest Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS) in the market – 68 €/MWh for First-of-its-Kind plants and 33 €/MWh when our technology is mature
- Round-Trip Efficiency > 75%
- reliability, durability of the system, ease of management.
On top of this, we are the first alternative and green storage system with a MW-scale demonstration plant operating.
Current technologies are failing in terms of either performances, cost or environmental impact.
Our customers are energy players who have the capability to manage a utility-scale energy storage plant. They need LDES for solving their main pains:
-) Power Producers and Utilities need to increase renewable energy penetration and to face fluctuations in electricity price
-) Transmission and Distribution Operators have to upgrade the grids to improve flexibility and avoid unbalancing and curtailments
-) Commercial & Industrial Companies need to reduce their energy bill and increase renewable energy share in their consumption.
Thanks to CO2 Battery, they will benefit from:
- the lowest Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS) in the market – 68 €/MWh for First-of-its-Kind plants and 33 €/MWh when our technology is mature
- Round-Trip Efficiency > 75%
- reliability, durability of the system, ease of management.
On top of this, we are the first alternative and green storage system with a MW-scale demonstration plant operating.