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Energy and Clean Tech

Battery makers charge forward

After a flurry of prominent busts, the state’s portable-power sector continues to grow

 

Premium content from Boston Business Journal by Taryn Plumb, Special to the Journal

Friday, November 30, 2012

Sandie Allen

Phil Giudice, the CEO of Ambri in Cambridge, says demand will remain strong for longer-lasting and more portable battery technologies. 

Rumors of the battery industry’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
Given the recent spate of battery-sector implosions, including the local high-profile bankruptcy of A123 Systems Inc. and Boston-Power’s decision to essentially move all operations to China, it would be understandable for one to assume that the market for renewable battery technologies and interest among venture investors is on the decline. The reality is that the industry’s star has never been brighter.
“We’re now looking at a period of increased innovation,” said Phil Giudice, CEO of Cambridge-based Ambri (formerly Liquid Metal Battery Corp.).
A handful of local companies — most of them, including Ambri, using technology born in the lab of battery guru and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Donald Sadoway — are developing batteries big and small for numerous applications, from grids to gadgets, using a variety of materials.
Ambri, for starters, is working on a liquid-metal battery that would be used for grid-scale electricity storage. As Giudice explained, the aim is to ultimately create shipping-container sized batteries that are long-lasting, low-cost, portable, silent and quick to respond to demand. A prototype is now in the works, with a goal to deploy by 2014.
The 25-employee company, which is recruiting, recently landed a $15 million Series B round of funding led by Khosla Ventures and supported by energy firm Total and Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates.
SolidEnergy Systems Corp., also based in Cambridge, is another battery maker on the move.
Incorporated in April and incubated at MIT, the award-winning startup is developing a polymer ionic-liquid lithium battery that is safe, non-flamable and designed to last twice as long as lithium ion models, according to founder, president and chief technology officer Qichao Hu.
Hu said prototypes to potentially target consumer electronics, downwell drilling operations and luxury vehicles is expected within the next few months. The company is also looking to close a $5 million Series A round by the end of the year. “Our goal obviously is to go global,” said Hu.
All told, some say this cluster of new companies, including another Cambridge-based company Pellion Technologies, is providing a much-needed recharge, so to speak, for a local market that has been beset by pitfalls. The most notable downfall included Waltham-based lithium ion battery manufacturer A123, once a darling of cleantech, which is in the process of liquidating its assets.
“There’s obviously some disappointment” in the battery sector in general, said Michael Lew, an analyst with investment bank Needham and Co. in New York.
Still, local startups say failure can provide insight and opportunity. Hu says he finds lessons in the mistakes, achievements, business models, management structure and technology of A123 and other companies. In fact, he hopes SolidEnergy can round out its team with former A123 and Boston-Power employees.
“Individual companies will do well or they won’t, certain technologies will reach fruition or they won’t,” Ambri CEO Giudice agreed. “That’s all part of the creative process.”
And while it is a tough climate to raise funding in cleantech, more companies are turning to strategic investors who can provide more targeted expertise, he said.
Lew agreed, noting that, whether they succeed or fizzle, renewable energy companies ultimately contribute to technology advancements. He said demand for new battery technologies will never die.
“The bottom line is you’re going to see more battery types being tested,” he said. “It’s all being driven by the need for more energy.”

Original story link here.