Google has partnered with the Arizona public power utility, Salt River Project (SRP), to improve the understanding of non-lithium-ion long-duration energy storage (LDES) performance.

As part of the research project, Google has committed to funding a portion of the costs for LDES pilot projects that will be developed on SRP’s grid. Subsequently, Google will evaluate data collected from the project to determine its operational performance and provide input on the research and testing plans.

“We believe that long-duration energy storage will play an essential role in meeting SRP’s sustainability goals and ensuring grid reliability,” said Chico Hunter, SRP manager of innovation and development. “This first-of-its-kind research collaboration with Google will bring additional insight into the viability of these new technologies that could move them to maturity more quickly.”

Through the project, the companies aim to determine what advancements the technologies require to deploy LDES at scale. The LDES technology that will be deployed has not been disclosed. There are several LDES technologies currently under development, ranging from organic flow batteries, to thermal, which tout much longer storage capacities compared to lithium-ion.

“Long-duration energy storage is a key technology in the portfolio of advanced energy solutions that we want to bring to market faster — to unlock stronger, cleaner, more resilient grids,” said Lucia Tian, head of advanced energy technologies at Google. “Through our collaboration with SRP, we aim to accelerate the innovation and technological advancements necessary to deploy LDES solutions at scale so communities in Arizona and beyond can meet their power needs reliably and cost-effectively for years to come.”

SRP issued two Requests for Proposals for LDES demonstration projects in 2022 and 2024, and intends to explore the inclusion of multiple projects within the research collaboration with Google.

The agreement builds on an established relationship between the utility and tech giant. Last March, Google signed a 430MW energy supply agreement with SRP to power three of its data centers in Arizona.

This is the second LDES project Google has backed in a matter of months. In July, it signed its first partnership with an LDES firm, inking a long-term agreement with Energy Dome, an Italian company specializing in CO2 battery development. In addition to the commercial partnership, Google also made a direct investment in the company.

Google is not the only data center company to throw its backing behind LDES. In May, Prometheus Hyperscale signed a deal with XL Batteries, an organic flow battery developer, to supply and install a 333kW demonstration-scale battery at an undisclosed Prometheus site in 2027. Following this, Prometheus plans to acquire a 12.5MW/125MWh commercial-scale system in 2028, with another identical system to follow in 2029.

However, concerns still permeate the LDES sector. Earlier this month, sodium-ion battery manufacturer Natron Energy was forced to shutter its operations due to insufficient funding.

DCD took a deep dive into the potential of flow batteries within the data center sector in our latest Critical Power Supplement. Available here.