Azelio

Long-duration energy storage (LDES) is essential for decarbonizing the grid but gigawatt-hour scale systems continue to be tricky for companies with big ideas. Here are some of the latest innovations across a flourishing array of new – and old – ideas.

Swedish start-up Azelio says it will have a pilot project up and running in Masdar City by the end of next month. The technology sees electricity used to super heat aluminum with energy released on demand via a heat transfer fluid to drive a Stirling engine.

Can this technology be commercialized? A partnership between Siemens Energy and EnergyNest to develop thermal storage solutions together is the latest development in an industry with lots of potential, but little practical application thus far.

Swedish company Azelio is studying whether storage could ensure complete self-sufficiency for the 36,000-strong Azraq camp, which already draws 70% of its electricity from solar generation.