How Inlyte Energy is Revolutionizing Energy Storage with Iron and Sodium
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
In a world racing to electrify everything with renewable energy, there is a catch: the sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow. This simple truth has become the renewable energy sector's greatest challenge - until now. Enter Inlyte Energy, a revolutionary startup transforming stationary storage with ingredients so common you find them in your pantry.
The Hidden Challenge Behind Green Energy
The energy transition faces a critical bottleneck. While solar and wind power have become competitive with fossil fuels, a fundamental challenge remains: storing this intermittent power for when it is most needed. Traditional batteries, dependent on rare earth materials and complex global supply chains, simply cannot meet the demanding cost and life requirements of grid-scale storage. The energy industry needs a solution that is durable, affordable, and sustainable.
The Innovation: Elegance in Simplicity
This is where Inlyte Energy’s solution shines. Inlyte reimagines energy storage by turning to two of Earth’s most abundant resources: iron and sodium chloride, better known as table salt. The pairing of a sodium metal negative side with an iron chloride positive side, separated by a ceramic electrolyte, provides powerful energy storage at a fraction of the cost — removing the need for expensive and imported metals.
Inlyte’s batteries will offer a 20-year lifespan, over 7,000 charge cycles, and a round-trip efficiency of 80%, on par or better than today’s lithium ion batteries. They operate safely under high or low temperatures and eliminate fire risks, making them ideal for grid-scale applications. What makes this battery especially remarkable is that, unlike any other technology, Inlyte’s system can provide 20+ hour backup power in addition to a daily renewable cycle within the same size battery for only a small additional cost. This creates a 2-in-1 functionality that no other technology can effectively or economically offer, which is especially critical in locations with locations plagued by long term outages such as major storm, polar vortex, and wildfire power shutoffs. Inlyte presents a practical, scalable solution for the energy challenges of today and tomorrow — delivering reliable, cost-effective storage while paving the way for a sustainable future.
A Journey of Scale and Innovation
The story begins with Antonio Baclig, Inlyte's founder and CEO, who saw untapped potential in a technology others had overlooked. Sodium metal chloride batteries had existed since the 1980s, but remained largely forgotten in the lithium-ion gold rush. Baclig recognized something others had missed - these batteries and materials could revolutionize grid storage if engineered correctly.
Early days at Inlyte focused on perfecting their core technology through countless iterations. A pivotal moment came in 2022 with the acquisition of Beta Research Ltd., a veteran team in the field with decades of expertise and pilot-scale manufacturing facilities. This marriage of innovative vision and manufacturing experience accelerated Inlyte's journey from promising startup to industry challenger.
Looking ahead, the company aims to complete utility-scale field demonstrations and achieve commercial readiness. The culmination of this journey arrives in 2027, Inlyte’s planned commercial U.S. factory online date. This facility represents more than just manufacturing capacity – it's a testament to the scalability of Inlyte’s vision, their commitment to innovation and progress, and the possibility of completely transforming grid storage economics.
The Art of Securing Support
Having revolutionary technology is one thing - convincing others of its potential is another challenge entirely. When applying for NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, Inlyte partnered with Streamline to craft their vision into a compelling narrative.
Using Streamline's AI-powered editor and document search capabilities, Inlyte was able to generate a clear, persuasive proposal that aligned with DIANA’s priorities. “Streamline saved us hours of work by enabling us to search more than 20 of our previous grant and award applications to find the content we needed,” said Amy Hansen, Inlyte’s Head of Business Operations. The collaboration showcased not just the scalability of their technology, but their ability to communicate its transformative potential to key stakeholders. Out of more than 2600 applications from around the world, Inlyte was selected to join DIANA’s 2025 cohort with 74 other companies.
The Impact: Enabling the Renewable Energy Revolution
The implications of Inlyte's success extend far beyond technical achievements. Their projected levelized cost of storage of less than $0.05/kWh for daily cycling significant undercuts current industry incumbents and could fundamentally reshape the economics of renewable energy storage.
The environmental impact is equally profound. By using abundant, domestically-available, sustainable materials, Inlyte's technology offers a path to grid storage that does not rely on rare earth minerals or complex international supply chains. This approach strengthens domestic energy security while reducing environmental impact - a rare win-win in the energy sector.
Tomorrow’s Grid, Built Today
Backed by leading venture capital and strategic investors, Inlyte is doing more than scaling a technology - they are enabling a future where renewable energy can power our world reliably and affordably. Their holistic approach to optimization demonstrates deep understanding of what it takes to transform an industry.
In the global race to transition to renewable energy, Inlyte's iron-sodium batteries might just be the missing piece that makes round-the-clock clean energy a practical reality. As climate change accelerates and energy security becomes increasingly critical, innovations like these can solve some of humanity's most pressing challenges.
The future of stationary energy storage might be as simple as iron and salt, reimagined through the lens of innovation. And that future is being built today, one battery at a time, at Inlyte Energy.
