Energy Secretary Chris Wright Tours Massive Maine Battery Project
By Jon Fetherston
August 20, 2026
Wright traveled to Lincoln, where he toured the former Lincoln Paper and Tissue mill property that is being redeveloped into a sprawling technology park — including a planned energy storage facility that supporters say could fundamentally change how Maine and the broader New England power grid handle periods of extreme electricity demand.
The visit brought Wright together with Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and LePage, the Republican nominee for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, at a time when electricity costs, grid reliability and energy policy have become increasingly important political issues in Maine.
The planned Form Energy project will occupy roughly 50 acres of the former mill property and use a relatively new iron-air battery technology designed to store electricity not simply for a few hours, but for days.
According to Form Energy and local officials, the Lincoln system could store and discharge enough electricity to supply at least 65,000 households and continue operating for more than four days, potentially providing power during prolonged cold snaps, storms or other periods when electricity demand spikes.
Wright used Wednesday’s visit to make the case that long-duration storage could address a weakness in conventional battery systems.
“How long do those high pressure systems and peak demands last? They last a few days,” Wright said, contrasting the proposed Form Energy system with batteries capable of providing power for only several hours.
Read the entire article at https://www.themainewire.com/2026/08/energy-secretary-chris-wright-...
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Comment
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Comment by Willem Post on August 21, 2026 at 1:09pm
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Form Energy’s iron-air battery storage facilities have an expected useful service life of , losing less than 2% of their capacity annually.
Year 1 roundtrip loss factor 0.65 x 0.65 = 0.4225
That means about 20,118 MWh must be taken from the HV grid to deliver 8500 MWh
Year 20 roundtrip loss factor 0.4225 x (1- 0.02) ^19 = 0.2878
That means about 29,534 MWh must be taken from the HV grid to deliver 8,500 MWh
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Steady Charge Rate: Given that a complete 0% to 100% charge takes roughly 100 hours, about 4 days, the system gains capacity at an average rate of 1% per hour.
Accounting for its round-trip efficiency of about 40% the system will take 8500/0.4 = 21,250 MWh from the HV grid over a 100-h period and delivery 8500 MWh to the HV grid over a 100 hr period.
This represent an enormous $ loss, because a lot more MWh has to be taken from the grid than is delivered.
New England often has near-zero wind/solar periods that last 5 to 7 days throughout the year, so called Dunkelflaute
Some times one Dunkelflaute is followed by another, shorter Dunkelflauta within days, i.e., well before the system had recharged.
In such events, 2 systems will be required to cover just a tiny fraction of the total consumption in New England.
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Form Energy’s iron-air battery storage facility would be located at the former Lincoln Paper and Tissue mill site in Lincoln, Maine. [1, 2]This major project, situated within the developing Lincoln Technology Park, represents a massive leap forward for long-duration energy storage (LDES).Key Project Details
- Capacity: The multi-day energy storage system has a capacity go 85 MW/8500 MWh
- Duration: The system will continuously discharge electricity for 100 hours (over 4 days). This heavily contrasts standard lithium-ion batteries, which usually last for only 2 to 4 hours.
- Funding: The development received a $150 million federal grant awarded in 2024 through a grid resilience program.
- Timeline: Construction is slated to begin in 2028, pending local approvals.
How the "Rust" Technology WorksThe breakthrough iron-air battery functions via a process called reversible rusting:- Discharging: The system "breathes in" oxygen from the air, converting the internal iron pellets into rust, which generates and releases electricity.
- Charging: An incoming electrical current reverses the chemistry, transforming the rust back into pure iron while "exhaling" oxygen.
- Advantage: It bypasses expensive or hard-to-source components like lithium, nickel, and cobalt, utilizing iron, water, and air.
On a high-voltage (HV) grid-to-grid basis, Form Energy's iron-air battery system operates at a round-trip efficiency (RTE) of approximately 40% to 50%.This means that for every 10 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electrical energy taken from the transmission grid to charge the system, roughly 4 to 5 MWh are successfully returned to the grid during discharge.
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FINANCIAL ANALYSIS OF MEGAPACK BATTERY SYSTEM; 2023 PRICING
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/financial-analysis-of-...
By Willem Post
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Utility-scale, battery system pricing usually not made public, but for this system it was.
Neoen, in western Australia, turned on its 219 MW/ 877 MWh Tesla Megapack battery, the largest in western Australia.
Ultimately, a 560 MW/2,240 MWh battery system, $1,100,000,000/2,240,000 kWh = $491/kWh, delivered as AC, late 2024 pricing. Smaller capacity systems cost much more than $500/kWh
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Financial Analysis of Megapack Battery System; 2023 pricing
Assume battery capacity at 45.3 MW/181.9 MWh, a 4-h systemTurnkey cost $104.5 million
Specific cost $104,500,000 /181,900 kWh = $574.5/kWh
Amortize bank loan, $52.25 million, at 6.5%/y for 15 years;Owner investment, $52.25 million, minimum 10%/y for 15 years;
Assume battery daily usage at 40% of capacity, which decreases with aging;
Battery system capacity aging at 1.5%/y loss for 15 years
Year 1 arbitrage
Year 1 roundtrip battery system loss factor = 0.9 *0.9 = 0.81
Battery delivers to HV grid at peak hours = 365 d/y x 181,900 kWh x 0.4, usagex 0.9 = 21,511,494 kWh/y, which Owner sells at wholesale price of 8 c/kWh
Battery takes from HV grid at midday = 26,557,400 kWh/y, which Owner buys at wholesale price of 4 c/kWh
Battery roundtrip loss = 5,045,906 kWh/y
Year 15 arbitrage
Year 15 roundtrip loss factor 0.81 x (1 - 0.015) ^14 = 0.655
Battery delivers to HV grid at peak hours = 365 d/y x 181,900 kWh x 0.4, usagex 0.655 = 17,395,097 kWh/y, which Owner sells at wholesale price of 12.10 c/kWh
Battery takes from HV grid at midday = 26,557,400 kWh/y, which Owner buys at wholesale price of 6.05 c/kWh
Battery roundtrip loss = 9,162,303 kWh/y
Year 1 O&M at $20/kW-year
Owner receives capacity payments of $3/kW-month from Grid Operator
Owner receives ancillary services payments of $12/kW-month from Grid Operator
Without those lucrative revenue streams, the project would not be profitable. See NOTE.Assume inflation of O&M, wholesale price, capacity payment, ancillary services payment at 3.0 %/y
Assume subsidies at 30% up-front cash tax credits; 7-y MACRS depreciation; loan interest deduction; corporate tax at 21%.
Assume Owner has other profitable businesses which would fully utilize any tax credits
Financial Metrics, per Google AI
Internal Rate of Return 14.08% IRR vs 10% hurdle
Subsidies shift costs from project Owners to ratepayers, taxpayers, government debt.
.NOTE: Payment levels determined by Grid Operator to “help make batteries pay”.
It is highly likely political pressures are imposed on grid operators to “help” Owners of battery systems have enough revenues, other than the minor revenue from arbitrage, to have a “suitable” IRR for the Owners of the battery systems. The public, i.e., Joe Doe taxpayer and ratepayer, is fed some BS story about the greatness of battery systems, because the Joe Doe folks will never be able to figure it out.
NOTE: Excluded costs are: 1) grid extension/reinforcement to connect battery systems, 2) downtime of parts of the system, 3) decommissioning in year 15, i.e., disassembly, reprocessing, storing at hazardous waste sites.
COMMENTS ON CALCULATION
Almost all battery systems operate at less than 10%. They are typically used to stabilize the grid, i.e., frequency control and counteracting up/down W/S outputs. See URL.
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/battery-system-capital...
About 40% annual throughput, by absorbing midday solar peaks and discharging during late-afternoon/early-evening, as in sunny California, would be extremely hard to achieve. The more solar systems, the greater the midday peaks.
See URL for Megapacks required for a one-day wind lull in New England
40% annual throughput is close to Tesla’s recommendation of 60% maximum throughput, i.e., not charge above 80% and not discharge below 20%, to perform 24/7/365 service for 15 y, with normal aging.
Tesla’s recommendation was not heeded by the Owners of the Hornsdale Power Reserve in Australia. They excessively charged/discharged the system to maximize profits. After a few years, they added Megapacks to offset rapid aging of the original system, plus they added more Megapacks to increase the rating of the system.
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Loss factor is from HV grid to 1) step-down transformer, 2) front-end power electronics, 3) into battery, 4) out of battery, 5) back-end power electronics, 6) step-up transformer, to HV grid.
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NOTE: EV battery packs cost about $135/kWh, before it is installed in the car. Such packs are good for 6 to 8 years, used about 2 h/d, at an average speed of 30 mph. Utility battery systems are used 24/7/365 for 15 years
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NOTE: Aerial photos of large-scale battery systems with many Megapacks, show many items of equipment, other than the Tesla supply, such as step-down/step-up transformers, switchgear, connections to the grid, land, access roads, fencing, security, site lighting, i.e., the cost of the Tesla supply is only one part of the battery system cost at a site.
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NOTE: Battery system turnkey capital costs and electricity storage costs likely will be much higher in 2023 and future years, than in 2021 and earlier years, due to: 1) increased inflation rates, 2) increased interest rates, 3) supply chain disruptions, which delay projects and increase costs, 4) increased energy prices, such as of oil, gas, coal, electricity, etc., 5) increased materials prices, such as of tungsten, cobalt, lithium, copper, manganese, etc., 6) increased labor rates.
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Comment by Dan McKay on August 21, 2026 at 5:34am
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Batteries are not generation. They suck energy from the grid and return it at less than 80% of what they took. If we are now worried about a four day lapse in solar and wind energy, we need nuclear in Lincoln, Maine , not a battery to backstop Rollins Wind Project.
It's time to get real!
Maine as Third World Country:
CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power
Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.
Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********
(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/
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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law
Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future
"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."
https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/
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