Alphabet's hot salt energy-storage project becomes its own company

[thackney]

Alphabet's hot salt energy-storage project becomes its own company
https://www.engadget.com/2018/12/19/alphabet-malta-energy-storage-salt-funding/

...Malta taps into the laws of thermodynamics to store renewable and fossil energy as heat in molten salt and cold in low-temperature anti-freeze until it's needed -- you probably still need electricity at night, when the sun isn't shining on your local solar farm. The company is working on a pilot plant, backed by $26 million from its first funding round, which was led by a fund Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg are involved with.

Power storage is often a cumbersome, expensive problem, particularly for the likes of wind and solar farms. Providing them with a reliable, inexpensive way to keep electricity in reserve could cut down on waste, while helping renewable energy companies find the bandwidth to generate more power.

[thackney]

Gates Among Billionaires Backing Alphabet Energy Spinoff
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-19/gates-bezos-among-billionaires-backing-alphabet-energy-spinoff




...Solar developers have tried using molten salt in other ways to store excess electricity, but full-scale applications remain limited. SaltX Technology Holding AB has developed a salt-based heating and cooling system. SaltX shares fell 7.9 percent on Wednesday.

Alphabet’s X was once home to all of Google’s free-wheeling experiments, incubating sci-fi projects like self-driving cars, delivery drones and the Google Glass wearable computer. Since 2015, when Alphabet was formed, the lab has trimmed project budgets and dialed back some of its ambitions.

Now X designs projects with two primary goals: to become a standalone Alphabet division or spin out into an independent company. Other options include shutting down or becoming part of Google. Alphabet once had far bigger plans around energy, but has trimmed those in favor of smaller efforts like Malta inside X. A geothermal project called Dandelion became a standalone startup in 2017.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Gates Among Billionaires Backing Alphabet Energy Spinoff
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-19/gates-bezos-among-billionaires-backing-alphabet-energy-spinoff




...Solar developers have tried using molten salt in other ways to store excess electricity, but full-scale applications remain limited. SaltX Technology Holding AB has developed a salt-based heating and cooling system. SaltX shares fell 7.9 percent on Wednesday.

Alphabet’s X was once home to all of Google’s free-wheeling experiments, incubating sci-fi projects like self-driving cars, delivery drones and the Google Glass wearable computer. Since 2015, when Alphabet was formed, the lab has trimmed project budgets and dialed back some of its ambitions.

Now X designs projects with two primary goals: to become a standalone Alphabet division or spin out into an independent company. Other options include shutting down or becoming part of Google. Alphabet once had far bigger plans around energy, but has trimmed those in favor of smaller efforts like Malta inside X. A geothermal project called Dandelion became a standalone startup in 2017.

Can one really store electricity in molten salt like it is stored in a lithium battery?

Maybe storing heat in it, but saying one stores electricity in salt is like saying one stores electricity in crude or gas or behind a dam I think.

[thackney]

Can one really store electricity in molten salt like it is stored in a lithium battery?

Maybe storing heat in it, but saying one stores electricity in salt is like saying one stores electricity in crude or gas or behind a dam I think.

Even a battery technically is not storing electricity, but rather chemical energy.  There is not a flow of electrons continuous in the battery.

[Joe Wooten]

Molten salts have been used before and corrosion has always caused the projects to fail before they reach the break-even point. Materials technology has not advanced that much to keep this problem away.