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Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Wednesday, March 18, 2026

A new type of battery storage is about to be deployed on the Midwestern grid for the first time. Sodium-ion battery storage manufacturer Peak Energy and global energy company RWE Americas will pilot a passively cooled sodium-ion battery system in eastern Wisconsin on the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) network -- the first sodium-ion deployment on that grid.

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... Peak Energy says its technology is specifically designed for grid-scale storage and leverages sodiumion chemistry's inherent stability. Unlike many lithiumion systems, sodium-ion batteries don't require active cooling and can operate over a wide temperature range without losing performance.

That simpler design could make a meaningful dent in the cost of storing electricity.

According to Peak Energy, its system cuts the lifetime cost of stored energy by an average of $70 per kilowatt-hour. That's roughly half the total cost of a typical battery system today.

The company says it achieves those savings by removing energyhungry cooling systems, eliminating routine maintenance requirements, and reducing the need to overbuild storage capacity to account for battery degradation over time.

RWE Americas, which operates about 13 gigawatts of energy assets in the US, will run the pilot to test how the technology performs on the grid. ...


#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-03-18 12:37 AM | Reply

If sodium-ion works, it could be a game changer.

Time will tell ...

#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-03-18 12:38 AM | Reply

Great to see a potential game changer for the grid.

#3 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY at 2026-03-18 04:08 AM | Reply

#2 | Posted by LampLighter a

This is a game changer for a lot of things as it continues to develop.

China in particular has been working on it and are way out front. They even operate down to -40C. The problem is they are still heavier and bigger per KWh. They are lower cost, much safer and more stable than other battery tech as well. According to a 2019 paper I read the cost per KWh should be in the range of $40"77 (times do change) I am not sure on the charge life cycles but what I read in the past 10s of thousands was possible - if not more.

In China, battery makers bet big on sodium in move away from critical minerals

#4 | Posted by GalaxiePete at 2026-03-18 12:16 PM | Reply

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