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Ergenics Hy-Stor Battery Energy Storage

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I’ve been staying in close contact with this company for a long time, and reported about them to UFTO the first time in Dec 95 and again in Oct 96, describing their Hy-Stor battery technology. They haven’t received a lot of attention in the storage/battery industry over the years, but my personal view is that they could be a major dark horse in the business.

In addition to the utility scale device, they’ve also built a “D” cell. Inherently, the technology features very high cycle life, high power and energy density, and suffers no ill effects from over charging or discharging.

They’re continuing to make major progress, and are looking for investment capital and partners.

Contact:

Dave DaCosta, President
or Phil Burghart, Sr. VP

Ergenics, Inc.
247 Margaret King Ave.
Ringwood NJ 07456
973-962-4480 http://www.ergenics.com

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(Disclosure: I do some consulting for the company,
and have a finders fee agreement with them.)

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The company issued this press release this morning:
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Thursday January 15, 9:30 am ET
Company Press Release SOURCE: Ergenics, Inc.

New Energy Storage Technology Leads Way to Low Cost Electric Power Supply

RINGWOOD, N.J., Jan. 15 — Ergenics announced today that it has initiated the second phase of its electric utility battery energy storage program. The program is directed at producing a long life (10 years), 25 kilowatt, 100 kWh battery module capable of daily deep discharge cycles for a variety of electric utility applications.

The initial product will be a simple peak shaving system which will be charged with low cost, “base load,” power at night and discharged during the afternoon peak load in order to reduce incremental generating capacity and its associated higher costs. This system is being developed for utility testing overseas where the differential cost between base load and peak load power is 3-5 times higher than in the U.S. The potential overseas market for the company’s battery energy storage system exceeds $30 billion. Ergenics is currently funded to build the first full scale submodule for testing based on a design previously approved by its foreign partner. The battery’s modular design allows construction of battery energy storage systems ranging in size from 100 kWh to 4,000 kWh.

Beyond the offshore project, Ergenics is exploring electric energy supply applications in the United States where electric utility deregulation is expected to create enormous opportunities for energy storage systems distributed across the power grid. Ergenics ultimately envisions household units which will provide reliable energy during power outages. These units will also store power purchased at low off-peak rates for later use in periods when energy would be more expensive.

Ergenics’ Hy-Stor(R) battery system is well suited for utility batteries. It couples the established know-how of the high energy storage density of metal hydrides with the extraordinary cycle life capabilities of nickel-hydrogen electrochemical cells which have been used in orbiting satellites for over twenty years. Half fuel cell and half battery, the only chemical reaction in the nickel-hydrogen battery is the simple oxidation and reduction of the nickel hydroxide electrode. This makes possible attainment of 10 years of life and tens of thousands of deep and shallow discharge cycles. In addition, and unlike any other battery, nickel-hydrogen batteries are tolerant of overcharge and overdischarge operation. This is especially important for higher voltage batteries where a large number of cells are connected in series. Complicated and costly electronics to balance the state-of-charge of the cells are not required.

Ergenics is a world leader in the development and commercialization of metal hydride technology. In addition to utility battery energy storage systems, Ergenics is developing hybrid electric vehicle batteries under a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency contract, high energy, long life battery packs for electric bicycles, and hydrogen storage units for fuel cells. Privately owned, Ergenics, Inc. has its headquarters and principal manufacturing operation in northern New Jersey.

HYSTOR-Nickel Hydrogen Battery

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Subject: UFTO Note — HYSTOR-Nickel Hydrogen Battery
Date: Tue, 22 Oct 1996 13:13:19 -0700
From: Ed Beardsworth
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| * UFTO * Edward Beardsworth * Consultant
| 951 Lincoln Ave. tel 415-328-5670
| Palo Alto CA 94301-3041 fax 415-328-5675
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This press release came out today. They’re making good progress in the EV field, but my own view is that they could be terrifically valuable in stationary applications.

UFTO first mentioned Ergenics in December 1995, repeated in “DU 1.0”.

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Ergenics Demonstrates Advanced Electric Vehicle Battery

RINGWOOD, N.J., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ via Individual Inc. — Ergenics announced today that it has achieved a major milestone in its rechargeable battery development program with the demonstration of its first Hy-Stor(TM) multi-cell bipolar advanced battery for electric vehicles. The outstanding performance of the Hy-Stor battery is made possible by coupling the established know-how of high energy storage density of metal hydrides with the unmatched high cycle life capabilities of nickel-hydrogen batteries, which have been used successfully in orbiting satellites for over two decades.

The Hy-Stor battery offers safety, performance and economic advantages over lead-acid, nickel cadmium and nickel metal hydride batteries. Ergenics is initially targeting its application to the market for electric and hybrid electric vehicles, where it provides much longer cycle life, much greater range between charge cycles, a greater temperature range of operation and substantial cost efficiencies.

Unlike space batteries, which store their required hydrogen in pressurized containers, the Hy-Stor battery stores its hydrogen, in even higher densities, in a chemical bond with powdered metal at ambient temperatures and ambient, or slightly lower, pressures, thereby eliminating the safety hazards associated with highly pressurized gas tanks, etc. Furthermore, the manufacture of the Hy-Stor battery is a very “clean” process, as is its subsequent operation. Since it involves no heavy metals or toxic substances, it is environmentally friendly.

The Hy-Stor battery will provide an electric vehicle with more than double than the range between recharges of currently available lead acid batteries and 20% greater range than nickel metal hydride batteries, at equivalent levels of acceleration performance. At the same time, the Hy-Stor battery will retain its stored energy when not in use, i.e., it will not “self discharge” as happens with other types of batteries when idle, and will last far longer, longer than the average life of an automobile today, due to its extraordinarily high cycle life. Hence, its overall economics should prove most compelling.

Ergenics, believes that, eventually, the hybrid electric vehicle will prove to be the most popular and, indeed, effective means of achieving energy saving and pollution control objectives. It will have a base load, highly efficient internal combustion engine, and use a battery for purposes of acceleration and to store power from regenerative braking. In that case, the Hy-Stor battery should prove an ideal application with its life of 2,000 cycles at 100% discharge, 100,000 cycles at 15% discharge and high power pulse capacity.

Ergenics’ Vice President for Research & Development, Mark Golben, comments, “This milestone is the final step leading us to fabrication of a full size electric vehicle battery.” With cutting edge innovative technology, Ergenics has been granted over 25 U.S. patents and corresponding foreign patents. Privately owned, Ergenics, Inc., with its headquarters and principal manufacturing operation in northern New Jersey, is a world leader in the development and commercialization of metal hydride technology.
CONTACT: Philip A. Burghart, Senior Vice President, Ergenics, Inc.
201-962-4480, or fax, 201-962-4325