Peak Energy Bringing Sodium-Ion Battery Storage To Wisconsin

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News about sodium-ion batteries is cropping up everywhere you look, but mostly it pertains to electric cars. One of the prime benefits of sodium-ion technology for drivers is the way it shrugs off the charging and performance drops that occur with traditional NMC and LFP batteries in cold temperatures.

But there are other advantages, including extremely long life and low flammability. In general, sodium-ion batteries require less cooling, which can significantly reduce the cost and complexity of battery packs. Between the lower cost of the batteries and the absence of complex cooling systems, sodium-ion promises to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles by lowering the price of new battery-powered cars.

Peak Energy

Peak Energy was founded in 2023 by a group of entrepreneurs who previously worked at Tesla, Enovix, and Apple. It’s mission is to developed low cost, giga-scale energy storage technology to dramatically lower the cost of energy storage and establish the US as a global leader in the battery technology.

In a press release dated March 12, 2026, Peak Energy announced an agreement with RWE Americas, a leading global energy company that currently has about 13 GW of operating assets in the US, to pilot its proprietary passively cooled sodium-ion grid storage battery technology.

The pilot project will be deployed in Eastern Wisconsin at the RWE lab, and will make RWE Americas a first mover in bringing next generation, capital efficient energy storage to the grid when fully adopted. Built to maximize sodium-ion’s stability and thermal advantages, Peak Energy’s battery storage system dramatically reduces the cost of energy storage and eases the need for costly new power plants, directly addressing the energy cost crisis in America.

Dispatchable & Reliable

“Energy storage is central to providing dispatchable, reliable energy on demand. Peak’s innovations, enabled by sodium-ion batteries, greatly reduce energy storage costs,” said Landon Mossburg, CEO of Peak Energy. “Delivering the lowest cost electron is Peak Energy’s north star, and we’re proud to work with RWE Americas to operate our cost-optimized batteries.”

On its website, Peak Energy claims, “Our sodium-ion technology is specifically engineered for stationary storage. It’s safer, lower cost, and free from the critical mineral dependencies that have long [delayed] lithium-based solutions.”

Peak’s proprietary energy storage system enables safe operation at a wide temperature range without a performance decrease, dramatically altering the economics of energy storage. Relying on highly stable sodium-ion (NFPP) battery cells, Peak’s energy storage system eliminates costly routine maintenance, removes cooling systems that waste energy, and reduces “overbuild” — the amount of excess storage required to account for capacity degradation over time.

Lower Costs

Because of those improvements, the company’s energy storage systems reduce the lifetime cost of energy stored by an average of $70/kWh. Applying those lifetime saving would lower the total price of a battery system today by half. If we thought battery storage was a hot topic before, imagine what will happen if the cost drops by 50%!

The MISO region — which includes Wisconsin – is facing unprecedented energy demand growth, rapid cost increases, and a critical lack of energy storage capacity. Last year, a report from Aurora Energy Research concluded that the installation of 10 GWh of battery storage capacity over the next decade could reduce total MISO system costs by as much as $27 billion compared to a baseline scenario.

Deploying that same capacity using Peak’s GS-1.1 systems would reduce the upfront installation costs of a new battery energy storage system by more than 25% relative to conventional lithium-ion solutions. The company’s passive cooling is responsible for much of that decrease, due to lower operating costs and reduced lifetime system maintenance.

GS-1.1 Technology

“GS-1.1 is the first commercially available sodium‑ion battery energy storage system built for grid‑scale deployment,” the company says. “Powered by NFPP chemistry, it operates without active cooling– a global first at scale. Infrastructure‑ready, drop‑in compatible, and built for harsh environments from day one. Eliminating traditional balance-of-system components removes over 85 percent of fire risks and addresses the rest with a safer sodium‑ion cell. This is not a tech demo. It’s a commercial system ready to scale.”

Batteries on the grid improve overall reliability and reduce consumer costs by storing surplus energy at low demand times and deploying it to the grid at peak demand, limiting reliance on expensive energy spot markets. This reduces the need for costly new generation technologies and maximizes the dispatchable use of economically efficient intermittent energy generation sources.

Rapid, Reliable, Resilient

Peak Energy says it designs, manufactures, and delivers next-generation energy storage systems that enable the rapid, reliable, and resilient growth of the electricity grid.

“At the core of our platform is a proprietary sodium-ion technology, purpose built for grid scale applications. Our chemistry — NFPP sodium iron pyro-phosphate phosphate — is the building block for an inherently safe, passively cooled system [that is] free from the thermal risks and rare material dependencies of lithium-based systems. It requires no auxiliary power, no active maintenance, and no fire suppression — making it ideal for dense urban settings, remote deployments, and critical infrastructure alike.

“We operate across the entire energy storage value chain. From cell R&D and manufacturing to system integration and grid interconnection, our model is vertically integrated and designed for execution. Every component — from cathode to inverter — is optimized to reduce cost, speed up deployment, and maximize long term reliability.

“Our systems are modular and scalable, built for fast assembly and automation. We don’t just supply batteries, we deliver fully operational, site-ready solutions that reduce total cost of ownership from day one.

“With fully domestic manufacturing in the US, take-or-pay customer contracts, and a clear path to 20+ GWh of annual capacity, Peak Energy is redefining how storage is built and deployed. Our work supports the expansion of AI infrastructure, the decarbonization of power systems, and the resilience of communities facing increasing grid instability.

“We deliver what the future demands — clean, compact, cost effective storage that’s safe to deploy, easy to scale, and ready now.”

Financial Incentives Remain Active

The good news for companies like Peak Energy is that when the current administration declared war on renewable energy by eliminating all the carrots baked into the Inflation Reduction Act, it spared those for energy storage. As a result, these BESS installations still qualify for those incentives, which has the unintended effect of making solar plus storage systems cheaper to install.

Shhhhhh, don’t tell Chris Wright, who thinks ecological collapse will be a business opportunity, but BESS is coming for his beloved fossil fuels. In the long run, the free market will kick his methane-addled dreams to the curb as clean energy use continues to surge all across America.

So sorry, Chris. You and your buddies will soon be the biggest losers as the energy transition powers forward into the future without you. No one will miss you when you are gone on January 20, 2029, if you survive that long in the threshing machine known as Trump 2.