East Road Storage Project

Executive Overview

The East Road Storage Project is a 1.5 MW / 150 MWh iron-air battery energy storage system under construction at a Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) substation in Redwood Valley, Mendocino County, California, developed by Form Energy in partnership with PG&E. The project is funded by a $25 million grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC), with $25 million in match funding, under the CEC's Long Duration Energy Storage Program — part of Governor Newsom's multi-billion-dollar climate investment. Originally sized at 5 MW / 500 MWh, the project was revised in 2025 to 1.5 MW / 150 MWh with updated CEC terms, and is targeted for commissioning in 2027. It is the first multi-day iron-air battery project to be deployed in California.

How It Works & Differentiation

Form Energy's iron-air battery stores electricity through a reversible electrochemical oxidation reaction using iron anodes, a water-based non-flammable electrolyte, and ambient air — discharging by rusting and recharging by de-rusting the iron. The system delivers up to 100 hours of continuous output, far exceeding the four-to-six hour range of the approximately 6,600 MW of lithium-ion storage already installed on California's grid. PG&E's role as the host site and interconnection provider reflects its broader Distributed Energy Resource Management strategy, and the project sits within a grid territory prone to Public Safety Power Shutoff events, making multi-day storage directly relevant to local reliability needs. The CEC estimates that deploying firm zero-carbon resources like multi-day storage could reduce California's overall energy system costs by $2 billion annually by 2045.

Commercialization & Traction

The CEC grant — awarded under a competitive solicitation and structured with matched private investment — validates the technology and business case for iron-air in California's regulatory context. PG&E is providing land and interconnection, reducing development cost and execution risk for Form Energy's first California deployment. The project is one of a portfolio of LDES grants totalling over $247 million committed by the CEC, alongside projects using zinc hybrid cathode, vanadium flow, and other non-lithium chemistries, reflecting a deliberate state strategy to diversify long-duration storage beyond lithium-ion. Form Energy's broader pipeline also includes an 85 MW project in Maine and a 5 MW project in Virginia, with the West Virginia factory expected to reach 500 MW of annual production capacity by 2028.

Scalability & Strategic Context

California's SB 100 targets 100% clean electricity by 2045 and the state's own modelling projects a need for more than 48 GW of battery storage and 4 GW of long-duration storage to meet that goal. East Road demonstrates Form Energy's technology in a high-profile regulatory environment with strict interconnection, permitting, and performance monitoring requirements — operational experience here strengthens the case for larger subsequent California deployments. The project also generates real-world data on iron-air performance under California grid conditions, directly supporting Form Energy's case for the 300 MW Pine Island system and its broader commercial pipeline.