× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

CONCORD, N.C. -- Alevo Group held the tech world’s attention Tuesday as company officials announced a “breakthrough” battery system they say will cut electricity waste in existing fossil-fuel power plants while vastly expanding the use of renewable energy sources.

Alevo will provide energy services to utilities worldwide using GridBanks, shipping containers of Alevo batteries that can deliver 2 megawatts of power, according to information provided by the company. When combined with Alevo Analytics, the GridBanks can be used to optimize entire grids in real time to eliminate up to 30 percent of the energy lost through inefficiencies and power waste.

The “real breakthrough” is a lithium-iron-phosphate cell with an inorganic, sulphur-based electrolyte,” said Executive Vice President Christopher Christiansen. It’s “completely different” from typical rechargeable lithium ion batteries.

Those batteries, which have been under development for decades, are widely seen as a mature technology with little room for improvement.

Alevo’s battery system has a lot more room to improve, Christiansen said. “We are kind of in the beginning stages of where we can take this technology.”

The technology is non-flammable and non-combustible, said Alevo CEO Jostein Eikeland.