Lincoln iron‑air battery

Executive Overview

The Lincoln Iron-Air Battery is an 85 MW / 8,500 MWh Form Energy iron-air battery project under development at the former Lincoln Mill site (Lincoln Technology Park) in Lincoln, Maine, backed by a $147 million DOE federal grant — part of a $389 million DOE package to strengthen New England's grid. The project is targeted for completion by 2028 and would be the world's largest iron-air battery in commercial operation by energy capacity at COD. Form Energy's manufacturing base is in Weirton, West Virginia. The project will sell directly into ISO New England without a specific utility offtake contract. At 8,500 MWh, the battery would provide just over four days of continuous discharge at full output.

How It Works & Differentiation

Form Energy's iron-air system stores electricity through the reversible oxidation and reduction of iron in an aqueous electrolyte: during discharge, metallic iron oxidises to iron oxide (rust), releasing electrons; during charging, the process reverses. The storage medium — iron, water, and air — uses no lithium, cobalt, vanadium, or other critical minerals, and cannot catch fire or explode. The Lincoln system delivers up to 100 hours of continuous discharge at 85 MW, compared to the 4–5 hour standard for lithium-ion systems in ISO New England. Form Energy has cited a target system cost of less than one-tenth of lithium-ion BESS at commercial manufacturing scale.

Commercialization & Traction

The Lincoln project is Form Energy's largest single-site deployment by energy capacity, substantially exceeding the Darbytown VA (5 MW / 500 MWh), Sherco MN (10 MW / 1,000 MWh), Cambridge MN (1.5 MW / 150 MWh), and Georgia Power (15 MW / 1,500 MWh) projects in terms of energy stored. The DOE grant reflects federal recognition that ISO New England — which lacks the large pumped hydro or CAES resources available in other regions — has a structural need for multi-day storage. Construction is expected to employ approximately 100 workers, with 5–10 long-term operations jobs.

Scalability & Strategic Context

Lincoln is sited on brownfield land — a former paper and pulp mill — reducing permitting risk and supporting the economic transition of a community with legacy industrial employment. ISO New England's grid faces prolonged cold weather episodes where natural gas supply constraints reduce generation capacity; multi-day iron-air storage directly addresses this seasonal vulnerability. The Lincoln project's 8,500 MWh would make it the largest Form Energy installation by a factor of more than 50 versus currently operating units, marking the transition from demonstration-scale to meaningful grid-scale deployment.