Amsterdam-based Ore Energy has raised $43 million (£32 million) in Series A funding to commercialise its iron-air battery technology, betting that Europe’s growing appetite for AI, manufacturing and renewable energy will drive demand for long-duration electricity storage.
The round was led by Plural and HV, with participation from Positron Ventures, bringing the company’s total funding to $61 million. Ore said it will use the investment to establish its first manufacturing facility ahead of plans to begin gigawatt-hour-scale production in 2028.
The startup’s technology is designed to tackle one of the energy transition’s biggest challenges: storing renewable electricity for days rather than hours. Unlike conventional lithium-ion batteries, Ore’s system uses iron, water and air to store electricity for up to 100 hours by repeatedly rusting and un-rusting iron electrodes. The company claims the approach delivers long-duration storage at one-tenth of the energy capacity cost of lithium-ion batteries, while avoiding reliance on imported critical minerals such as lithium and cobalt.
The timing reflects mounting pressure on Europe’s electricity networks as AI infrastructure expands. Global electricity demand from data centres is expected to more than double to around 945 TWh by 2030, according to projections cited by the company, while AI-optimised facilities are forecast to grow more than fourfold over the same period.
At the same time, renewable generation continues to outpace the grid’s ability to absorb it. Ore estimates Europe currently wastes around 72 TWh of renewable electricity each year because transmission networks cannot accommodate excess wind and solar generation when conditions are favourable. Its batteries are intended to capture that surplus energy and feed it back into the grid during periods of higher demand, reducing renewable curtailment and providing a more consistent source of low-carbon electricity.
Ore said it has already signed a 1 GWh agreement with Dutch energy supplier Budget Thuis and has completed pilot projects with French utility EDF to demonstrate the technology in operational settings.
“Affordable, renewable baseload power is the foundation for the next generation of manufacturing, AI infrastructure and industrial growth globally,” said Aytac Yilmaz, Ore Energy’s co-founder and chief executive. “Ore Energy’s long-duration storage is an essential part of that future.”
Interest in long-duration storage has grown as renewable generation outpaces the grid’s ability to use it. Instead of paying wind farms to switch off when supply exceeds demand, utilities hope technologies such as iron-air batteries can hold that electricity for days and release it when the grid needs it most.
