Dive Brief:
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ViZn Energy Systems Inc. has received an order from the Idaho National Laboratory for a 128-kW, 320-kWh redox flow battery system based on its zinc-iron chemistry.
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The flow battery system will be installed as part of a microgrid research, development and demonstration facility expected to be commissioned in the second quarter of 2016.
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ViZn says its zinc-iron battery uses non-toxic, non-flammable, non-explosive alkaline chemistry, allowing it to be deployed safely in densely populated areas or adjacent to utilities and substations without the risks associated with other battery technologies.
Dive Insight:
Even though flow batteries have a small share of the worldwide energy storage market, vanadium-based batteries account for nearly 79% of that share. But that may be changing on both fronts as new flow battery technologies are tested and move toward commercialization.
One avenue being explored is the use of cheaper and safer chemicals for battery chemistry. Lithium-ion batteries, which account for about 70% of grid-connected battery installations, have high efficiencies and high energy density ratios, but are susceptible to fires and explosions. Flow batteries are less flammable, but have lower efficiencies and energy densities.
Idaho National Laboratory, part of the Department of Energy’s national laboratory network, in the second quarter plans to begin testing a zinc-iron redox flow battery by VizN Energy Systems.
“We are seeing increasing interest in our flow batteries from both private and public organizations looking to initiate large-scale energy storage for various applications,” Ron Van Dell, president and CEO of ViZn, said in a statement.
The battery’s chemical components are globally abundant and inexpensive and provide favorable returns on investment, VizN says.
Another avenue in effort is being explored at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which also is a DOE lab site. Researchers there are testing the use of organic aqueous compounds that could slash flow battery costs.
Specifically PNNL recently announced advances that could allow cheaper, safer chemicals to be used in place of more expensive vanadium, which now dominates the flow battery chemistry.
If scaling tests now under way are successful those chemicals could be used to replace vanadium in flow batteries and lead to wider adoption.
Similarly, VizN says its low cost zinc-iron chemistry could enable wider adoption of flow batteries for a variety of applications.
“We are interested in the potential for lower cost energy storage systems, with 20-plus-year lifetimes and the ability to fulfill aggressive duty cycle requirements as well as long duration energy dispatch," Kurt Myers, Idaho National Lab's clean energy market area lead, told PV Magazine.