Amsterdam-based startup Ore Energy has secured $43 million to develop iron-air batteries capable of storing energy for several days.

      Amsterdam-based Ore Energy has secured $43 million in Series A funding to enhance its iron-air battery technology, which can store renewable energy for up to 100 hours. The funding round was led by Plural and HV, with contributions from Positron Ventures, raising the total investment in the company to $61 million.

      The batteries operate through a process of rusting and unrusting iron electrodes, allowing for a reversible chemical reaction that charges and discharges using only iron, water, and air. This technology does not rely on critical raw materials like lithium or cobalt, and can be produced entirely through a European supply chain.

      Founded in 2023 by Aytac Yilmaz, Rutil Ozdemir, and Yaiza Gonzalez Garcia, Ore Energy emerged from research at Delft University of Technology. The company connected the first known grid-connected iron-air battery system at TU Delft’s Green Village testing facility last year and has conducted pilot projects with French utility EDF under real-world conditions.

      Ore Energy has already finalized a 1 GWh agreement with Budget Thuis, a Dutch energy and telecommunications provider, marking the largest iron-air storage contract in continental Europe. The initial phase of this deployment, encompassing 400 megawatt hours, is scheduled for 2028.

      The innovation tackles a longstanding challenge in Europe: the storage of excess wind and solar energy for use during periods of low generation. While lithium-ion batteries can bridge short gaps, the mismatch between renewable output and grid demand can last for days, leading to frequent surplus wastage through curtailment.

      Additionally, the company is positioning its technology as essential infrastructure for the AI era, estimating that global electricity consumption by data centers will more than double by 2030. The fluctuating power demands from AI workloads necessitate robust energy storage solutions.

      Ore Energy intends to utilize the funds to construct its first manufacturing facility, aiming for gigawatt hour-scale production by 2028. It faces competition from Form Energy, a US-based rival that has raised over a billion dollars for similar iron-air technology, but Ore Energy believes its fully European supply chain provides it with a competitive advantage in a market increasingly cautious of foreign reliance.

      Ian Hogarth, a partner at Plural, expressed that Ore Energy has the potential to become “one of the world’s most important energy companies” by optimizing existing wind capacity. The company aims to establish iron-air as the standard for long-duration storage on the grid by 2035.