vanadium redox flow batteries

Conceived by Swiss researchers, the battery shows good stability over 50 cycles, with an average energy efficiency of 68% and a water-splitting voltage efficiency of 64.1%. According to its creators, the device produces pure hydrogen that only needs to be dried and compressed for optimal storage.

Western Australian company Australian Vanadium Limited has been awarded $3.69 million in federal government funding to fast-track manufacturing of large-scale vanadium redox flow battery systems that can be used to support rooftop solar PV or in off-grid settings such as mining, agriculture and remote communities.

The battery will be provided by Canadian vanadium mining company Largo Resources. It will come online in the third quarter of next year.

Australia-based TNG Limited has signed an agreement with Malaysian green hydrogen company AGV Energy which will see its vanadium redox flow batteries integrated into the HySustain project to store solar energy for green hydrogen production.

A new South Australian big battery will show the value of diverse storage deployments in the National Electricity Market.

Australian Vanadium filed a patent application this week for its vanadium processing route, while rival TNG signed a deal to commercialize vanadium redox flow batteries.

The Australian government has recognized TNG’s flagship Mount Peake Project – a mine that includes production plans for vanadium redox flow batteries and green hydrogen – as nationally significant.

Argonne National Laboratory researchers have found a way to use fluorescence to monitor the performance of redox flow batteries in real time. They used 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole as a redox-active molecule to store energy in the electrolytes. The molecule works as an energy carrier and signals a problem known as “crossover.”

UK researchers have used standard carbon paper electrodes modified with electrophoretically deposited nitrogen-doped graphene (N-G) to improve the electrochemical performance of hybrid redox flow cells utilized in redox flow batteries. According to their findings, these electrodes are capable of meeting the harsh electrochemical requirements for these HRFCs and offer enhanced performance and operability.

Batteries based on vanadium or zinc bromide represent the cutting edge of redox flow storage tech, an international research team has claimed. They have identified challenges and opportunities for about a dozen redox flow storage technologies, while providing estimates of their current and projected levelized costs of storage.