Advanced Battery Concepts (ABC) is to supply a 1.15MW bipolar lead battery energy storage system for a solar-plus-storage project in Michigan, US.
The company said the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy (GTRLC) project has received final funding approval from the US Department of Energy and has moved into procurement and manufacturing.
Installation and commissioning at GTRLC’s headquarters in Traverse City are targeted for the second quarter of 2027.
The BESS will use ABC’s GreenSeal bipolar lead battery technology and comprise three commercial-scale BOX-BE energy storage enclosures. It will be installed next to GTRLC’s existing 185kW solar photovoltaic array.
ABC did not disclose the system’s energy capacity in MWh or its intended discharge duration.
The project is supported by Congressionally Directed Spending administered by the DOE. US congressional appropriations records show an allocation of $600,000 for the project, although neither ABC nor the DOE has said whether this represents its total cost.
The DOE granted the project a categorical exclusion from further environmental assessment in February. Its published project description specifies three 8ft by 10ft battery containers installed on concrete pads next to the solar array.
ABC said the system will store solar-generated electricity for later use, but did not specify whether it will also provide backup power, peak shaving, grid services or islanded operation.
The company manufactures its GreenSeal batteries in Clare, Michigan. Its bipolar design is intended to reduce the quantity of lead required compared with conventional lead batteries while retaining the chemistry’s established recycling and domestic supply-chain infrastructure.
ABC CEO Ed Shaffer said: “By combining GTRLC’s existing solar generation with safe, highly recyclable energy storage technology designed and manufactured here in Michigan, this project brings together environmental stewardship, domestic manufacturing and energy resilience.”
The DOE’s official project title describes the installation as a “100 percent reusable commercial-scale lead battery”. Further details about the components covered by that description and whether they will be directly reused or recycled were not disclosed.
ABC first presented a proposed three-container BOX-BE installation paired with solar generation in 2022. The latest announcement moves the project towards a funded commercial deployment.
