German Consortium Unveils World's First High-Power Battery System Using Lithium-Free Aluminum Ion Tech
- MM24 News Desk
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Credit: Andreas Scheunert / Fraunhofer IISB
A German research consortium has successfully built the world’s first complete battery system demonstrator using high-power aluminum-graphite-dual-ion (AGDIB) cells. This milestone validates the stability of the lithium-free technology outside the lab, proving its potential as a safe, recyclable, and low-cost solution for critical applications like stabilizing power grids.
In the global race to find sustainable alternatives to lithium-ion batteries, a significant hurdle has been cleared. For the first time, researchers have moved a promising new battery chemistry from a single lab cell to an integrated, functional system. The achievement comes from the INNOBATT project, a German consortium, which has demonstrated a complete battery module using aluminum-graphite-dual-ion batteries (AGDIB), a lithium-free technology ideal for high-power energy storage.
Why does this matter? The surge in renewable energy creates a pressing need for storage solutions that can react in milliseconds to balance the grid, a task known as dynamic frequency stabilization. These applications favor high power—the ability to charge and discharge rapidly—over sheer energy density. The AGDIB chemistry, built from abundant and inexpensive materials like aluminum and graphite, perfectly fits this niche.
While many novel battery concepts never progress beyond a coin-sized prototype in a controlled lab, the INNOBATT team scaled their technology to practical pouch cells and integrated them into a working demonstrator.
“This proves the stability of the new battery cell chemistry not only in a laboratory environment, but also in a more realistic scenario,” according to the project announcement. The system was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR).
The demonstrator is more than just a box of batteries; it’s a showcase of an entire sustainable value chain. It integrates eight AGDIB pouch cells with a cutting-edge, wireless battery management system (BMS) based on the open-source foxBMS platform from Fraunhofer IISB.
For precise monitoring, the team incorporated a novel diamond-based quantum sensor capable of measuring current across a staggering five orders of magnitude, capturing everything from tiny trickles to massive surges with high resolution.
In rigorous testing, the system validated the cell chemistry's high-power prowess. It proved stable performance with dynamic high-current loads at a rate of 10C over extended periods, successfully emulating real grid stabilization duties using actual frequency data. A key advantage, the consortium reported, is that AGDIBs allow for very high discharge and charging rates, unlike many conventional systems, making them suitable for providing "virtual inertia" to the grid.
Sustainability was a core design principle from the start. The project followed a strict design-for-recycling approach. The cell recyclability was assessed using a physical separation process that avoids toxic chemicals, aiming for closed material loops. The module's design reportedly exceeds current EU regulatory requirements for battery recycling efficiencies.
The consortium behind this breakthrough includes Fraunhofer IISB as the leader, alongside the Chair of Electron Devices (LEB) at Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, the Research Center Energy Storage Technologies (EST) of Clausthal University of Technology, and industry partners HIMA Paul Hildebrandt GmbH and ACCUREC Recycling GmbH.
This successful demonstrator is a crucial step toward commercial viability. It moves the AGDIB from a promising paper concept to a tangible technology that has proven its stability and performance in a system, paving the way for a future where grid-scale storage can be both powerful and free from lithium supply chain constraints.