‘WORLD'S LARGEST BATTERY' TO PROVIDE 100-HOUR IRON-AIR STORAGE FOR GOOGLE DATA CENTER

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Google is building a new data center in Pine Island, Minnesota, that will be powered by 1.9 gigawatts of clean energy from wind and solar. It will use a 300-megawatt iron-air battery with a 30-gigawatt-hour capacity and 100-hour duration. Iron-air batteries store electricity by making rust and then reversing the rusting process to release energy when needed. While these batteries are heavier and less efficient than their counterparts, they are almost three times cheaper. Google will fund the installation of many smaller batteries across the grid to increase power capacity and make the system more reliable.