The new manganese–hydrogen battery developed by the company Ges of Trento is proposed as an alternative to industrial storage systems designed to support long-duration energy storage. It can complement or replace the technologies currently dominating stationary applications. It is stable, resilient and scalable
Presented last month in Rovereto at the green hub of Trentino Sviluppo, a system company of the Province of Trento, the new energy storage technology has been developed by the local firm Ges, Green Energy Storage. It is a solution that could have a significant impact on the development of the national energy system, representing an innovative technology of European relevance designed to address current challenges in long-duration energy storage.
It can in fact meet the storage needs of energy production networks and, in particular, those generated by non-programmable renewable sources, presenting itself as a battery well suited to replacing traditional lithium-ion systems in stationary applications on an industrial and grid scale.
Its architecture combines electrochemical redox-flow principles, systems in which energy is not stored directly within solid electrodes but in chemical species dissolved in liquid electrolytes contained in external tanks. It is therefore effectively a flow battery, more precisely a manganese–hydrogen flow system, since the technology exploits an electrochemical manganese–hydrogen couple.
During the charging phase, electrical energy introduced into the system from renewable sources triggers controlled electrochemical reactions within the cell that produce gaseous hydrogen directly inside the battery. The hydrogen is therefore not extracted or stored in external cylinders but remains confined within a closed circuit that forms part of the battery structure itself.
During discharge, the process is reversed. The hydrogen produced is reabsorbed and reacts with the electrolyte and the active materials of the cell, releasing electrical energy to the outside. The core of the system therefore lies in the reversibility of manganese redox reactions, an element that is abundant, low cost and characterized by a supply chain that is less critical than those of lithium, cobalt or nickel.
Manganese acts as the main electro-active species, while hydrogen functions as an intermediate energy carrier, produced and consumed within the system without the need for external storage or dedicated infrastructure. This integration eliminates one of the main complexities typical of power-to-gas systems or traditional electrochemical hydrogen hybrid batteries, reducing the number of subsystems and improving the overall safety of the installation.
The flow configuration also allows power and energy to be decoupled. Deliverable power depends essentially on the size of the electrochemical system, while storage capacity is determined by the volume and concentration of the electrolytes. This approach makes the system particularly suitable for applications requiring many hours, or even days, of continuous storage, a field in which lithium-ion batteries show economic and degradation limits.
According to data released by Ges, the manganese–hydrogen battery achieves an overall efficiency of more than 75 percent and a service life exceeding ten thousand cycles, with limited performance degradation over its operational lifetime.
From the standpoint of safety and reliability, the absence of flammable organic electrolytes and the management of hydrogen within a closed system significantly reduce the risk of thermal runaway, one of the main critical issues of lithium-based technologies. The battery is also designed to operate at room temperature without the need for complex cooling or active heating systems, bringing direct benefits in terms of plant simplicity and reduced operating costs.
Ges technology can support electrical grids powered by non-programmable renewable sources and can also function as a load-balancing system. In these contexts it positions itself as an alternative to traditional electrochemical solutions and to mechanical or thermal storage systems, offering a favorable compromise between efficiency, durability and environmental sustainability.
The solution is therefore well suited to stationary applications, although with volumetric and gravimetric energy densities lower than those of lithium-ion batteries. This makes the technology less suitable for mobile applications or for contexts where space and weight represent strict constraints.
Title: The battery hydrogen by Ges: manganese revolution
Translation with ChatGPT
