ANN ARBOR — The Ann Arbor defense and security products developer Arotech Corp. (Nasdaq: ARTX) said it has received a $720,000 grant from Israel’s Office of the Chief Scientist toward research and development for its grid storage flow battery system.
The company said the grant will cover 40 percent of the planned R&D budget for the system in 2016.
Arotech’s iron-iron flow battery is intended to create an affordable technology that delivers a reliable on-demand supply of stored energy that accommodates the highly variable nature of renewable energy sources, acts as a back-up during power disruptions and also as a load-leveler for conventional power sources balancing between supply and demand.
The resultant product is expected to be very safe, have a long operating life and a very low system cost versus competing technologies at below $250 per kilowatt-hour, due to its use of iron, an abundant element.
Arotech president and CEO Steven Esses said the grant “serves as a strong validation of our work and the significant opportunity that we believe exists for grid storage technology. While we still have a number of important development milestones to achieve in the coming years, I am optimistic that our iron-iron flow battery concept can ultimately be a viable and cost effective technology to enable next generation renewable energy storage.”
Arotech develops products for the military, law enforcement and homeland security markets, including multimedia interactive simulators and trainers, and advanced zinc-air and lithium batteries and chargers. Besides its Ann Arbor headquarters, Arotech has research, development and production subsidiaries in Michigan, South Carolina, and Israel. More at www.arotech.com.