Date: Sept 4, 2014
Lockheed Martin has acquired Sun Catalytix for an undisclosed sum. Included in the acquisition is Sun Catalytix's intellectual property, its business contracts, research and production facilities, and its 25 employees. Sun Catalytix will now operate under the name of "Lockheed Martin Advanced Energy Storage," and will be be a sub-division of Lockheed's Missiles and Fire Control business unit. The press release states that Sun Catalytix was working on "the design, synthesis and electrochemical testing of a novel energy storage chemistry derived from low-cost, earth-abundant materials," but exactly what the energy storage chemistry is remains an open question.
Sun Catalytix's initial technology was based on an "artificial leaf" technology developed by Daniel Nocera while at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The artificial leaf produced hydrogen and oxygen from water in the presence of light. The company received an exclusive license in 2009 to commercialize the technology, and raised $18.5 million. However, in 2013 the company decided to to pursue flow batteries instead, and has since filed several patents surrounding hydrogen bromide (HBr) flow batteries as well asmetal-ligand electrolyte chemistries.
If Sun Catalytix is still pursuing HBr flow batteries, the acquisition could be beneficial for Lockheed Martin, as HBr shows commercial potential, but has only seen one commercial project from EnStorage (see the April 30, 2014 LRESJ). HBr flow batteries utilize the cheapest of all commercial electrolytes, and are more than an order of magnitude cheaper than vanadium-based electrolytes, whose expense means they represents 38% of those battery system costs (see the report "Grid Storage Battery Cost Breakdown: Exploring Paths to Accelerate Adoption"). However, one of the most-important yet often-ignored cost components of flow batteries is that of integrators bringing a completed system online, which a large player like Lockheed is well-suited to address.
However, it is unclear if Sun Catalytix is indeed still pursuing HBr flow batteries – indeed, based on Lux Research's interviews with other flow battery players, it seems the company has pivoted yet again. If Sun Catalytix is in fact pursuing an alternative metal-ligand electrolyte chemistry, then the value that Lockheed brings is less clear: This new electrolyte and resulting flow battery would still be in need of significant technical development before a commercial system is ready for Lockheed to deploy. Clients should track whether Lockheed brings an Hbr flow battery system to market quickly based on its new acquisition, or whether the project will require years of further incubation for the metal-ligand work.
Source: Lux Research