A pioneering battery and energy storage firm it is leading the development and commercial use of a ground-breaking new battery technology.
The newly-designed product will use Sheffield-based Faradion’s sodium-ion batteries which use low-cost materials that are sustainable and widely available.
AceOn, one of the UK leading solar energy and storage specialists, will be working in partnership with the University of Wolverhampton, DZP Technologies, a specialist battery materials development company, and Nigeria-based energy and power company Nevadic to deliver the innovative Government-backed project.
AceOn Group Managing Director Mark Thompson said the new solar energy storage unit could bring clean, sustainable and affordable power to millions of people around the globe – and that the company was leading the world in adopting the next-generation sodium-ion technology.
“Sodium-ion represents a real step change in technology and we really are leading the way in finding one of the first commercial applications for it in Africa. Our mobile storage unit will play a massive part in bringing clean, affordable and sustainable power to some of the world’s poorest regions and develop new technology that will help fight climate change all over the world.
“The funding is to develop this technology to integrate with solar energy generation to provide affordable, safe power for use initially in Nigeria. But our plan is to roll this out to a truly global market to answer the urgent need for clean, sustainable energy."
The project will start in October and run for two years.
James Quinn, CEO of Faradion, said, “We are really excited to be working with AceOnto expand the use of our batteries into Africa. Sixty six per cent of the Nigerian market faces unreliable or no energy access, so we see a lot of potential to support its ambitious economic growth projections.”
AceOn originally helped develop sodium-ion technology and, according to Thompson, "now is the right time to establish the next generation and scale-up its potential to help combat climate change”.
The project will see the development of a new version of AceOn’s solar energy generator to enable full integration with sodium-ion batteries, including hardware and software development, and scalable to 1MW. New diagnostics tools and a battery management system will also be developed.
It will also create a new trailer to transport the equipment, new assembly and maintenance systems to enable pack assembly, repair, and re-use locally in Nigeria, and include a full life cycle analysis of the system, including its environmental impact.
