CleanSpark Inc. (NASDAQ:CLSK) and battery diagnostics and optimization company, Rejoule, received a $2.9 million grant from the California Energy Commission to be deployed within the next 30 months.
Grant to support the repurposing of used EV batteries
The grant amount will be dispersed to the clean energy and technology multi-companies partnership. Equally, CleanSpark and ReJoule are also receiving an electric vehicle battery grant from Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F) Grid Alternatives, and BigBattery. CleanSpark will receive around $470,000 from the funding for its mVSO software services and microgrid design and the follow-on deployment of the mPulse controls and software. Equally, the company has agreed to offer matched funding of around $88,000.
The Grant proposal of the California Energy Commission was for validation of the capability of second-life batteries integrating cost-effective solar power for small-medium commercial buildings applications. The objective is deploying second-life electric vehicle batteries in microgrid applications. Usually, electric vehicle batteries retain around 70% to 90% of their original capacity after reaching end of life. This is a massive opportunity for repurposing the batteries as cost-effective stationary storage in second-life applications.
Ford to donate used EV batteries
Therefore, this will extend the lives of the used EV batteries and reduce the need to mine rare earth metals, and thus, using the batteries as energy storage will make them sustainable. Ford Motor plans to support the project through donation of used EV batteries. Equally, the automaker will offer technical support to ReJoule team from its Palo Alto-based Greenfield Labs. In 2019 Ford entered an agreement with California Air Resources Board to significantly minimize greenhouse gas emissions. This is part of the long-term sustainability framework of attaining carbon neutrality by 2050.
Rejoule, which is recipient of the grant, will be developing the degradation model and grading process of the battery. They will then partner with other parties in validating the feasibility of EV batteries repurposing for storage connected to Photovoltaic solar systems. CleanSpark’s mPulse controls and software platform in connection with ReJoule’s battery management system will control the energy storage batteries.
