flow battery

Japan could start building the world's largest storage battery system, as well as begin experiments to control fluctuations from renewable energy sources, as early as this autumn.

For the project, Hokkaido Electric will build what is called a redox flow battery system, produced by Sumitomo, at a substation in the town of Abira, 500 miles of Tokyo. The system – a 60 MWh vanadium redox flow battery –  will be as high as a six-story building.

A redox flow battery repeats charging and discharging operations in a tank, using an electrolytic solution of a metal known as vanadium. The system will have a lifespan of 10 to 20 years.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which has allocated 20bn yen ($202m) to cover the full cost of developing and manufacturing the system, believes the introduction of redox flow batteries will enable utilities to buy 10% more electricity from renewable energy sources.

Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) has received a US$3.4M award from the US Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) to develop flow battery technology aimed at doubling the current range of electric vehicles (EV).

IIT and Argonne National Laboratory will develop a prototype for a rechargeable "nanoelectrofuel" flow battery that may extend the range of EVs to at least 500 miles and provide a straightforward and rapid method of refuelling. Current EV ranges are 100-200 miles, with recharging taking up to eight hours.

Flow batteries, which store chemical energy in external tanks instead of within the battery container, are generally low in energy density and therefore not used for transportation applications.

The IIT-Argonne nanoelectrofuel flow battery concept will use a high-energy density "liquid" with battery-active nanoparticles to dramatically increase energy density while ensuring stability and low-resistance flow within the battery.

The IIT award is one of 22 projects across the country awarded a total of $36 million through the ARPA-E’s Robust Affordable Next Generation EV Storage (RANGE) programme, which seeks to develop innovative EV battery chemistries, architectures and designs.