ABB, 4R Energy, Nissan NA and the Sumitomo Corporation of America have found a way to extend the life of old Nissan LEAF batteries by using them for energy storage in future local community smart grids. The partners are evaluating and testing ways of reusing the Li-ion batteries in residential and commercial energy storage applications.

An energy storage system can store electrical energy from the power grid, usually during low consumption hours, when there is more electrical energy available in the power system. During peak power demand, this energy is fed back into the power grid, or can be used as a backup energy source during power outages. The companies are planning to develop a battery storage prototype with 50 kWh of storage capacity, which is enough to supply 15 average homes with electrical energy for two hours – or one average home for almost 30 hours (we prefer this kind of comparative measure ).

With the growing adoption of EV's in the coming years and decades, these reusable batteries, and other energy storage systems of similar heritage, could become something called a "renewable source of energy storage".

[source: ABB]