A new advance in grid-scale battery storage is coming to Colorado.

Peak Energy, developer of a sodium-ion battery, is establishing an advanced battery cell engineering center in Broomfield that will be focused on developing proprietary U.S.-produced batteries for use in grid storage systems in the short term. The company may expand into the home storage and even auto battery markets down the road.

The engineering center is expected to enable the scaling of domestic battery cell manufacturing by 2027 using U.S.-based supply chains.

“We are thrilled to see Peak Energy expand in Colorado, creating good-paying jobs and joining us on the path to 100% renewable energy by 2040,” said Gov. Jared Polis in a news release from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. “Colorado is advancing the clean energy economy, and together with companies like Peak Energy, we can harness the power of the sun for a brighter future.” 

The basic technology of a sodium-ion battery is simple and uses commonly available materials such as sodium bicarbonate, hard carbon, aluminum and phosphoric acid. All the key materials are available domestically, which assures that international geopolitics can’t disrupt supply chains, which are now affecting rare-earth materials supplied by China.

In response to President-elect Donald Trump’s statements about imposing tariffs on Chinese goods, China blocked the export of rare earth metals necessary for manufacturing things like high-power magnets for electric motors and materials required for integrated circuit boards.

According to researcher Lina Zhao at the Shenyang University of Technology, the world’s lithium reserves could be exhausted in only 28 years without substantial recycling. In a 2023 published paper, Zhao said that “sodium-based batteries hold significant promise for large-scale energy storage and grid development based mostly on its abundance in the earth’s crust.” 

Peak Energy CEO Landon Mossberg told The Denver Gazette that the domestic supply of manufacturing materials is advantageous over lithium-ion batteries because the U.S. has extensive reserves of sodium bicarbonate, also known as trona, with many uses, including baking soda for cooking.

The largest source of trona in the world is in Wyoming. The Wyoming Mining Association said: “The U.S. Geological Survey in 1997 estimated the total reserve of trona to be 127 billion tons, but only 40 billion tons are recoverable. At the current operation rate, Wyoming’s trona reserves will last 2,350 years. According to the Wyoming Geological Survey, Wyoming mines have produced over 633.2 million tons of trona since 1949.”

Mossburg said the Broomfield facility is a testing and engineering facility that will eventually employ 25 to 40 people. If Peak decides to build a battery manufacturing plant in Colorado, it could create hundreds to thousands of new jobs.

Peak Energy operates out of California during its development phase but is considering moving manufacturing to Colorado once the research and development justifies building a manufacturing facility.

“We’re really excited to be here. I think it’s been great working with Colorado through this process,” said Mossburg. “Governor Polis has been really supportive, and I think down the road, our plan is to build a battery factory and I think Colorado is definitely going to be one of the places we’re looking at.”

Peak Energy has more than 60 employees, 13 of whom are in Colorado.

“Peak Energy is a welcome partner in Colorado’s growing renewable energy and battery ecosystem. When companies like Peak Energy choose Colorado for expansion, we have the power to develop critical renewable energy technologies, create new good-paying jobs and secure our energy future,” said OEDIT Executive Director Eve Lieberman in the release.