2014 seems poised to be the year that next-generation battery technologies become more widely available for the power grid. On Tuesday a five-year-old venture capital-backed startup called Primus Power announced that it’s raised another round of $20 million in funding, which it will use to get its battery technology to its first utility and power customers this year.

Primus Power makes “flow batteries,” which store energy like the batteries in your laptop do, but which have the electrolyte (the substance that acts as the medium for the charging and discharging) separated out of the battery cell in liquid-filled tanks. The systems use a pump to move the liquid electrolyte over the electrode, which in turn stores energy.

via A next-gen battery is coming soon to the power grid — Tech News and Analysis.