A team of engineers were working on a second life for electric vehicle batteries when they stumbled across a potentially game-changing discovery.
The crew at Melbourne-based Relectrify have developed a novel “operating system” that can squeeze out 20 per cent more energy over the lifetime of most battery cells compared to conventional systems.
The startup’s CEO Jeff Renaud expects the technology to benefit the “missing middle” – business and industrial users whose adoption of power storage lags both households and the grid.
“The payback periods haven’t been good enough for business owners to make that investment,” he told AAP.
The startup leader is confident the business case can “stand on its own” with the technology, with every extra kilowatt hour translating into either revenue from the wholesale power market or reducing tariff or retail power supply costs.
More industrial users leaning into battery storage will support the broader energy transition, Mr Renaud said.
The company has secured $25 million from Australian Renewable Energy Agency to accelerate the rollout of its “AC1” battery product.
Chief executive of the federal government’s renewable energy innovation agency, Darren Miller, said the startup had developed a “breakthrough” in storage technology.
“What began as a project to reuse end-of-life batteries has now grown into a world-class battery management technology with the potential to transform energy storage,” Mr Miller said.
The funding boost is designed to help incentivise early adopters in hope that the business can eventually sustain itself.
The plan is to expand the 60-person local team and ramp up production of the Taiwan-manufactured batteries to supply both industrial and grid-scale customers.
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