Altairnano and AES partner on grid storage

Shares of Altairnano (NASDAQ: ALTI) are up more than 4 percent this morning to $3.93 on news that the company is developing a grid storage solution with global power company AES (NYSE: AES).

The company says it's finalized a joint development and equipment purchase agreement with AES for "a suite" of energy storage solutions expected to deliver "in excess of 1MW of power and 500 KWh of energy."

Altairnano plans to work with AES to place its systems at strategic points within the electrical grid to more efficiently deal with congestion, peaks and fluctuations in electricity demand.

Altairnano makes advanced batteries incorporating lithium and nanotechnology. It has historically targeted automotive and other applications (read the Cleantech Group's profile of the company, Altairnano power play.)

Earlier this year, AES invested $3 million in the company (see AES makes $3M strategic investment in Altairnano.)

The quick response time, extended life, and power profile of the Altairnano batteries and energy storage products are well suited to improving performance in these areas with lower environmental impact than traditional generation solutions, the company claimed today in a statement.

Delivery to AES of the prototype Altairnano energy storage products is scheduled for the end of the year.

Other companies are also making inroads into grid storage of late.

For instance, Milwaukee company ZBB is to build a zinc-bromine storage system in New South Wales, Australia (see ZBB gets Australian contract for renewable energy storage.)

And Boston's Beacon Power has developed a flywheel system to assist with frequency regulation on power grids (see Beacon Power flywheels get good spin.)

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