Molten Sodium Hydroxide could be a new battery solution for Solar Energy

 

Seaborg, a small next-generation nuclear start-up based in Copenhagen, has discovered a better molten salt storage solution using sodium hydroxide. Hydroxides can contain more heat per salt unit, making it more efficient and reducing the amount of salt needed. It is also about 90% cheaper than the cost of the salts currently used.

“We can more than half the cost of thermal energy storage in one go. And that allows us to come to a stage where we think our business can be competitive without any subsidies,” says Ask Emil Løvschall-Jensen, cofounder of Seaborg. The discovery came as an unexpected by-product of the work Seaborg was doing on creating small modular nuclear reactors. The start-up was set up in 2014 to create compact nuclear reactors on barges, using salt as the component to make them safer than traditional nuclear power plants but also to store the energy. This work has now been offloaded onto a new spin off company Hyme to expand on.



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