Google builds 1.9GW renewable-powered data center with world’s largest iron-air battery in Minnesota.
Google announced exciting plans for its first Minnesota data center Tuesday. The center will be built in Pine Island, about an hour southeast of Minneapolis. Google will use 1.9 gigawatts of clean energy to power this computer facility.
The main feature is a huge battery system made by Form Energy. This iron-air battery can store electricity for 100 hours at a time. That’s six times longer than typical batteries available today. At 30 gigawatt-hours, it will be the largest battery in the world when it opens.
Most grid battery boxes today use lithium-ion guts from car companies. Form Energy’s batteries work differently. These batteries store power by rusting and deoxidizing iron inside them.
Here’s how the iron-air battery works: When air touches the iron bits inside, oxygen makes them rust. This process releases electricity that can be used to power things. To charge back up, electricity pushes oxygen away from the iron and turns it into metallic form again.
Iron-air batteries have one big advantage. They’re much cheaper than normal batteries. Form Energy thinks their technology will cost about $20 for each kilowatt-hour of storage. That’s only one-third the price of lithium-ion batteries.