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https://www.africanreview.com/energy-a-power/renewables/unlocking-the-potential-of-battery-storage
At the Financing and Deploying New Technologies: Battery Storage session of EnergyNet’s Powering Africa Summit 2021, key panellists were joined by a host of industry experts to discuss the potential of energy storage for the African continent.
Carlo Brovero, CEO, StorEn Technologies, took the opportunity to talk about vanadium flow battery technology, which has both residential and industrial applications. He said, “The vanadium technology has a number of advantages that makes it suitable to the environment of Africa. It is easy to recycle (close to 100%) and this can be done without the need for specialised solutions. Although the cost is slightly higher than lithium batteries (although we are trying to close that gap) in terms of cost per cycle they are 60-70% lower than lithium. This is because they can do around 15,000 full cycles (which will last for about 25 years) whereas lithium can usually manage 2,000-3,000 and, in Africa, sometimes less.
“In terms of developing local content, vanadium is a local mineral, available in several different African countries. With our technology the only key component is the stack, which we will have to manufacture, but the rest can be built by local partners with very little investment on their side. This would increase our local impact via the creation of local jobs.”...
https://upnewsinfo.com/2021/07/02/vrb-energy-announces-us24-million-investment-from-bcpg-one-of-asia-pacifics-largest-renewable-energy-companies/
VRB Energy Chairman Robert Friedland and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Mianyan Huang are pleased to announce an investment of US$24 million by BCPG to accelerate growth of VRB Energy’s global energy storage business.
The investment by BCPG PLC (BCPG:Bangkok) – a Thailand-based developer and owner of renewable energy projects in the Asia-Pacific region, with 900 megawatts (MW) in operation and a pipeline of over 2,200MW, across Southeast Asia, Japan and Australia – will support rollout of VRB Energy’s Gen3 VRB-ESS® product, expanded manufacturing capacity, and vertical integration of vanadium processing to meet growing global demand.
“BCPG is a leader in Asia’s green energy revolution, and this investment reinforces our belief that VRB Energy’s game-changing technology will be a catalyst for integration of massive amounts of renewable energy around the region,” said Mr. Friedland.
“Countries around the world are now committed to net-zero carbon solutions, which will require vast capital investment over the next 25 years in energy storage. We’re extremely proud to be bringing forward vanadium-based batteries as a key solution for this global transformation,” added Mr. Friedland.
Developers and utilities are attracted to the low levelized cost of energy (LCOE) that VRB-ESS® deliver – with no cycle limits and no degradation of the vanadium electrolyte they are an ideal fit for the “heavy duty” daily cycling required for solar and wind integration to utility grids.
“In addition to welcoming BCPG as an investor, we are also working with them to add storage to their existing and planned projects to optimize system performance and enhance revenues, as well as to explore other business development opportunities with them in Thailand including localization of manufacturing,” noted Dr. Huang.
Mr. Bundit Sapianchai, BCPG CEO, commented: “We have been determined to strengthen our position as a leader in the green energy sector through investment in smart energy solutions, and VRB Energy’s long-duration batteries are a perfect fit to meet increasing demand for renewable energy, grid stability, and microgrid development.”
Mr. Pichai Chunhavajira, BCPG Chairman, will be appointed to the Board of Directors of VRB Energy upon the completion of the transaction.
Beyond the Asia-Pacific region, VRB Energy is in discussions with numerous developers and utilities in the U.S., Europe and South Africa for 100MW-class PV+VRB projects, and has noted an increasing demand for projects of 8-hours duration and longer.
https://www.miningmx.com/trending/46628-eskom-in-talks-with-lenders-to-raise-10bn-for-coal-fired-power-station-closures/
ESKOM, South Africa’s state-owned power utility, was in talks with lenders in an effort to raise $10bn it needs to shut its coal-fired power stations by 2050.
Bloomberg News cited the head of Eskom’s Just Energy Transition office, Mandy Rambharos, as saying the utility was in talks with development finance institutions.
The power plants may be re-purposed and the sites used to produce power from renewable energy or natural gas, Rambharos has previously said.
Reuters, which reported the amount earlier, said the site of Komati power plant may be used to produce solar energy, which would be coupled with battery storage.
South Africa is the world’s 12th biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and Eskom accounts for two-fifths of its emissions, said Bloomberg News.
In May, Eskom said it had reduced its debt by nearly 20% after paying matured loans whilst also benefiting from a more favourable exchange rate. Debt fell to R401bn at the end of March from R488bn a year earlier.
Eskom had also achieved savings of R13.5bn over the financial year. For the current financial year, 15% tariff increase granted by the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) would assist the company in reaching sustainability, it said.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/29/water-scarcity-why-some-of-the-worlds-biggest-companies-are-worried.html
In a research note published June 14, analysts at Barclays identified water scarcity as “the most important environmental concern” for the global consumer staples sector, which includes everything from food and beverages to agriculture and tobacco.
Sustainable investors, meanwhile, seem to be prioritizing other environmental concerns.
“Water scarcity is really important because when it runs out you have really serious problems and because of its low price, it is one of those classic externality risks,” Beth Burks, director of sustainable finance at S&P Global Ratings, told CNBC via telephone.
LONDON — Major companies from across a range of sectors are increasingly concerned about the cost and availability of the world’s ultimate renewable resource: water.
The availability and relatively low cost of water does not tend to capture much attention until it effectively runs out. Yet, with the climate crisis seen as a “risk multiplier” to water scarcity, analysts warn that even companies with relatively limited financial exposure to water risk should brace for disruption.
It comes at a time when water prices are rising around the world. The average price of water increased by 60% in the 30 largest U.S. cities between 2010 and 2019, according to data compiled by Barclays, while California Water Futures have regularly jumped as much as 300% in recent years.
In a research note published June 14, analysts at Barclays identified water scarcity as “the most important environmental concern” for the global consumer staples sector, which includes everything from food and beverages to agriculture and tobacco.
Consumer staples, which was said to be the most exposed of all sectors to water risk, faces a $200 billion impact from water scarcity, analysts at the U.K. bank said.
This came down to a strong reliance on agricultural commodities, an extreme vulnerability to water price fluctuation and operational risks — including disruption from extreme events such as droughts and flooding, and fines and lawsuits linked to pollution....
Additionally, Wiggington’s work with Stanford University has informed the methodology for the solid sampling procedure and analysis that they will conduct with these four communities in Michigan. Her work has shown that solid sampling can offer a more precise detection of COVID in wastewater.
Both projects are part of Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy and MDHHS’ COVID-19 wastewater coordinated surveillance network established in the fall of 2020 as a pilot project. The SARS-CoV-2 Epidemiology – Wastewater Evaluation and Reporting Network will continue utilizing locally coordinated projects to conduct surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 virus shed into Michigan public sewer systems.
According to MDHHS, the pilot project included 3,204 wastewater sample tests between April and December with 62.5 percent of the samples being positive
https://record.umich.edu/articles/researchers-get-5-3m-to-expand-covid-19-wastewater-monitoring/
University of Michigan researchers surveying wastewater systems for SARS-COV-2 will be able to increase testing sites and continue monitoring until 2023 after receiving more than $5 million from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
The funding, announced this week, is part of MDHHS’s $49 million to support 19 projects to continue COVID-19 wastewater surveillance and implement COVID-19 variant strain testing of wastewater.
The grants include $2.5 million for Krista Wigginton, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and Kevin Bakker, an assistant research scientist at U-M’s School of Public Health; and $2.7 million for Chuanwu Xi, a professor of environmental health sciences at the School of Public Health.
“This new grant will allow us to monitor more frequently and for an extended period of time the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2, including a few variant strains, in sewage from several buildings off campus in addition to sites on campus that we have been monitoring,” Xi said. “Data collected will allow us to evaluate the situation of COVID-19 spread in the community and the effectiveness of vaccination and other public health interventions.
“Our data will be shared in a real-time fashion with our county and state health departments and the university COVID-19 response committees to assist the development of data-driven public health policies.”
Xi’s research team also includes Rick Neitzel, Tim Dvonch, Marisa Eisenberg, Peter Song and Al Franzblau, all professors at the School of Public Health. Xi said project partners included the U-M Environment, Health & Safety Department, the city of Ann Arbor and Hamburg Township. Xi’s team has focused on testing wastewater at the Ann Arbor campus and was instrumental in setting additional public health interventions last year with an initial support from the Provost’s Office and SPH Dean’s Office.
Wiggington said the grant will allow them to add three new members to her team and to expand their current work with the wastewater treatment systems in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti to Jackson and Flint. It will also allow them to analyze daily, or near daily, influent and solid samples to monitor for the prevalence of COVID within these communities.
Data from the sample analysis will be shared to a statewide dashboard, but the team is also partnering with local health departments in Washtenaw, Geneessee and Jackson counties to inform their local responses to COVID.
“We’re excited to participate in this important project for the State of Michigan to continue fighting COVID-19,” Wiggington said. “Wastewater-based epidemiology has shown to be a valuable tool to inform public health officials of case levels and infection trends in a community.”
Behind a paywall so that's all can see, but makes for a nice headline.
https://www.africaintelligence.com/mining-sector_state-strategy/2021/06/25/johannesburg-gripped-by-vanadium-fever,109675671-art
With vanadium prices constantly breaking new records, miners of this mineral in which South Africa is rich are striving with the blessing of Pretoria to win back a market share that has been lost to China in recent years.
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/deepverge-trials-identify-covid-19-in-wastewater-in-real-time-1.4602287
London-listed scientific research group DeepVerge said it had successfully completed trials to detect Covid-19 in wastewater treatment plants in real-time, providing another potential weapon in the fight against the global pandemic.
The group, which was founded by Irishman Gerry Brandon, said it had completed phase three field trials in which its water contamination system, Microtox PD, successfully detected in real-time Covid-19 in wastewater treatment plants at multiple sites. The system could act as an early warning system for outbreaks of the disease.
Mr Brandon said the success demonstrated Microtox PD’s capability and value in identifying dangerous pathogens in real-time. “By establishing a permanent anonymised mass surveillance of wastewater, DeepVerge claims a world first real-time defence against this global pandemic,” he said. “The installation of Microtox PD wastewater units will enable live data to simultaneously identify the source of Covid-19 cases as well as identify Covid-19 clusters with the ability to indicate the size of each cluster. As the data grows, the central AI system has the potential to predict the trajectory of growth of future clusters of Sars-CoV-2 or any future dangerous pathogen.”
DeepVerge’s environmental health division Modern Water has agreed a deal with EPS Group that could see Microtox PD units installed in multiple European countries. EPS Group is an Irish, privately owned wet infrastructure specialist, focused on water, wastewater and clean technology.
“Having achieved this major milestone, we are delighted to enter this agreement with EPS Group who complete the final step of installing, retrofitting and maintaining our Microtox PD equipment,” Mr Brandon said. “With this level of established technical engineering support and distribution, DeepVerge can now offer an end-to-end solution for public and private clients across the European wastewater sector.”
DeepVerge, which is headquartered in Cambridge, England, is listed on the AIM in London, and earlier this year agreed a major deal with China Resources Group to form a joint venture for the manufacture and sale of environmental monitoring equipment.
TNG partnered with the Singaporean-based battery technology developer in April with the intent to jointly develop a VRFB storage business initially targeting applications in remote regional sites in Australia. Under the agreement, TNG would provide the high-purity vanadium electrolyte from its Mount Peake project required to operate the batteries.
Negotiations between the parties on a formal joint venture arrangement are “well advanced”, according to TNG
https://smallcaps.com.au/tng-develop-vanadium-redox-flow-batteries-malaysian-green-energy-collaboration/
Resource and mineral processing technology company TNG Limited (ASX: TNG) has inked a deal to work with Malaysian green energy company AGV Energy & Technology to develop vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) and hydrogen technology.
According to a heads of agreement, the pair will collaborate on the proposed integration of VRFB with AGV Energy’s green hydrogen production technology, which it has been developing with a pilot project planned in Malaysia.
This green hydrogen technology, known as ‘HySustain’, is designed to produce green hydrogen and oxygen using the electrolysis of demineralised water and renewable energy. AGV Energy plans to use VRFB as its preferred energy storage system for HySustain at its Malaysian project.
In addition, the companies have agreed to explore formal collaboration opportunities for the commercialisation of HySustain in Australia, as well as other opportunities for the application of VRFB in Malaysia.
AGV Energy is a subsidiary of the Malaysia-based environment, sustainability and climate change consultancy AGV Group.
AGV Energy is planning a phased rollout of its scalable HySustain technology with the first commercial application planned at an advanced project in Malaysia.
As the production of green hydrogen relies on electricity wholly produced from renewable energy sources, AGV Energy intends to use purpose-built, project-specific solar farms to provide this green electricity.
The company considers VRFB as the preferred battery system for integration with HySustain as it offers large, scalable and long-life energy storage for solar power generation.
TNG managing director Paul Burton called the collaboration another key step in the company’s ongoing green energy strategy to reduce net carbon emissions, including future emissions from its flagship Mount Peake vanadium-titanium-iron project in the Northern Territory.
“HySustain is a great opportunity to showcase an integrated VRFB storage solution.”
“We also intend to work with AGV Energy on the potential rollout of HySustain in Australia, given the significant momentum within Australia and the resources industry to move towards a hydrogen-based economy,” he added.
TNG and AGV Energy are now advancing discussions to formalise business planning and commercial arrangements for its collaboration.
AGV Energy claims it is also in talks with potential hydrogen offtake partners in the Asia Pacific region.
TNG said its new agreement with AGV Energy is an “excellent and complementary” opportunity for the planned VRFB product being developed and commercialised by TNG in joint venture with V-Flow Tech.
https://environmentjournal.online/articles/government-face-court-action-over-river-pollution/
WWF, the Angling Trust and Fish Legal have renewed their legal challenge over harmful pollution in England’s rivers.
The case, which was first brought to court in 2015, is based on the government’s failure to use ‘Water Protection Zones,’ a regulatory power available since 2009.
Despite targets to restore 75% of rivers to Good Ecological Status by 2027, only 14.6% of England’s rivers achieved this status in the latest assessment.
The legal challenge will focus on Defra and the Environment Agency’s failure to comply with a Consent Order, agreed in 2015, requiring action to gather evidence of pollution and plan to protect 37 key sites across England.
These sites are protected by law and are some of the most sensitive areas for nature in the country.
The government is expected to argue that the Consent Order ‘did not impose a legal obligation the Secretary of State to prepare to Diffuse Water Pollution Plans’ – the three organisations have said they will strongly contest this in court.
Kate Norgrove, executive director of advocacy and campaigns at WWF, said: ‘Rivers are lifelines for people and wildlife but year after year and despite promises from the government, England’s rivers are left in a dire state as a result of pollution, including from poor farming practices.
‘With nature in freefall, we cannot allow the UK government to keep shirking its responsibility when it comes to protecting these vital habitats. Ministers need to walk the talk when it comes to UK nature recovery – and that’s why we are back in court today.
‘With the right measures in place – including adequate funding, and a cast-iron target in the Environment Bill to halt the decline of species and to restore nature by 2030 – the government can, and must, accelerate progress towards restoring the health of England’s rivers. Success here will not only benefit nature but our economy too.’
Not sure what happened with that copy and paste...
Probably easier to just click the link.
https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/sea-swimming-and-water-quality-5460689-Jun2021/
THERE HAS BEEN an explosion of sea swimming in Ireland in recent times, and with that comes a demand for the best, up-to-date and detailed information about water quality.
Some 73% of the 148 beaches and lakes which are formally designated as swimming spots are deemed to be of an excellent standard under EU testing rules. Overall, 96% meet the minimum standards.
But there is a deeper and more detailed way to analyse the level of pollution, which is not only more revealing but also more concerning. We, a group of researchers at NUI Galway Antimicrobial Resistance and Microbial Ecology (ARME) group have done just that.
As well as that, in three pieces of research since 2017 we have reported the detection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in swimming spots that are designated as of good or excellent quality.
Flawed testing
This raises the question as to whether the EU sanctioned testing regime is good enough. The sampling and analysis for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Bathing Water Quality Report are based on the EU Water Framework Directive. Those regulations require local authorities to carry out sampling and testing at least once a month between 1 June and 15 September.
THE42
NOTEWORTHY
VOICES
AUTHOR
Professor Dearbháile Morris & Dr Liam Burke
Opinion: Our water quality tests in Ireland are not good enough - the real picture is a lot worse
Professor Dearbháile Morris and Dr Liam Burke of NUI Galway say the EU-backed water pollution tests being used here do not give an accurate reading.
Image: Sam Boal
7 hours ago 16,272 11
Updated 7 hours ago
THERE HAS BEEN an explosion of sea swimming in Ireland in recent times, and with that comes a demand for the best, up-to-date and detailed information about water quality.
Some 73% of the 148 beaches and lakes which are formally designated as swimming spots are deemed to be of an excellent standard under EU testing rules. Overall, 96% meet the minimum standards.
But there is a deeper and more detailed way to analyse the level of pollution, which is not only more revealing but also more concerning. We, a group of researchers at NUI Galway Antimicrobial Resistance and Microbial Ecology (ARME) group have done just that.
For several years, our team has been taking 30 litre samples from swimming spots and beaches around Galway, Cork and north Dublin. Our fieldwork and lab analysis found organisms of public health concern in bathing waters – some of which are designated as of excellent quality.
As well as that, in three pieces of research since 2017 we have reported the detection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in swimming spots that are designated as of good or excellent quality.
Flawed testing.
https://www.asktraders.com/analysis/bushveld-minerals-bmn-shares-are-down-22-9-in-2021-can-they-bounce-back/
Shares of Bushveld Minerals Limited (LON: BMN) are down 22.9% this year, with the latest decline fueled by the lower production figures reported in Q1 due to the 35-day maintenance shutdown Vametco plant.
On the bright side, the miner reported that it had completed the scheduled maintenance on time and within budget, demonstrating the fiscal prudence of its management team. However, investors paid more attention to the lower production figures.
Since January, the vanadium mining company’s shares have fallen significantly but have been trading sideways for the past few months as the bulls and bears fight to control the share price.
The markets seem to have discounted the fact that global demand for vanadium has risen significantly since last year and is projected to keep rising over the next few years, given the metal’s use in vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs).
Bushveld Minerals shares have been falling despite its positive milestones, including its $7.5 million investment in Enerox GmbH, a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) manufacturer.
The company’s investment in the VRFB manufacturer is about to pay off significantly after the South African government raised the threshold for companies to produce and store their power without a license up to 100MW from the previous 1MW limit.
Most South African businesses cheered the government’s policy shift given that it will allow more companies to quickly generate their electricity plugging the country’s massive electricity deficit.
Bushveld Minerals is set to benefit from the new policy given its investment in VFRB manufacturers, whose batteries shall be used to store the electricity generated by private businesses.
I’m still long-term bullish on the company, and the sideways trading is quite frustrating. Still, the company’s fundamentals remain solid, which bodes well for its investors over the long term. In addition, BMN shares are currently trading at support and could rally higher if the level holds.
Largo said on Battery Day that it too will offer a leasing model, again to lower capital cost of storage for the customer but also to increase the long-term revenue stream available — unlike in steel production where the vanadium is simply sold for one time revenues and earnings. In the meantime it will build up an asset portfolio of vanadium electrolyte, while it will also sell VRFB systems directly to customers.
The company revealed that from mining and selling vanadium which costs it about US$3.50 per lb, it makes a US$4.25 margin for that US$7.75 sale. Under its energy storage business model however, the company expects to be able to command US$5.05 upfront revenue, plus US$4.97 per lb net present value from leasing, while the pound of vanadium retains a net present value of US$2.36 to Largo. Added together, that gives the US$12.39 figure, which minus the same US$3.50 cost of vanadium is a US$8.89 margin.
https://www.energy-storage.news/news/largo-says-vanadium-for-energy-storage-worth-twice-as-much-as-steel-product
Using vanadium for battery electrolytes could be twice as profitable as supplying it for steel production, which is currently the major industrial use for the abundant metal, vanadium producer Largo Resources has said.
Largo Resources has decided that the market for long-duration energy storage will be a high value opportunity and held a ‘Battery Day’ this week to highlight its strategies for entering the global vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) energy storage business.
At the end of last year, the company launched a subsidiary, Largo Clean Energy, which will enable it to take vanadium from the parent company’s mining operations in Brazil and use it for VCHARGE±, the VRFB product which it has developed since acquiring technology, IP and personnel from defunct US VRFB company VIONX.
With the ongoing trend of variable renewable energy’s share of the energy mix increasing and fossil fuels in decline, the company believes it could capture around 3% of the global market for long-duration energy storage. VRFBs can store energy for 4 - 12 hours, much longer than the typical 1 - 4 hour applications lithium-ion batteries are economically viable at doing today, Largo’s in-house analysis forecasted the total addressable market to be around 49,000MWh by 2025.
It expects to make 40MWh of deployments in 2022 and then scale up production to 180MW / 1,400MWh annual capacity by 2025 to meet that market share target. At Wednesday’s online presentation event, VP of operations Salvatore Minopoli said that Largo Clean Energy is based out of Massachusetts, US, with manufacturing in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and with sales offices in Washington DC.
According to Minopoli and other company executives, Largo’s advantages include having a proven, commercially available technology, access to vanadium and in-house manufacturing capabilities. Ian Robertson, a director at the company, said that so much demand is expected from the battery market that the major factors that could limit Largo from achieving its targets would be manufacturing capacity and how much vanadium it can produce.
Currently, as a producer of vanadium, it has sold the commodity vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) as an additive for steel manufacturing at an average price of US$7.75 per pound. It believes that in the energy storage business that same V2O5 would be worth US$12.39.
Rival vanadium battery company Invinity Energy Systems has launched a business model where the vanadium electrolyte in a flow battery system is rented to the end user, lowering the upfront capital cost. Unlike the electrolyte in a lithium-ion battery, the vanadium does not degrade even after decades of use and retains its value.
https://www.ft.com/content/c52a1cf1-d3e7-4291-b08f-9b44b520367d
Wastewater analysis contributing to detection of Covid variants in England, government says
George Steer
Flushing the toilet after use has never been so important. Since last year, scientists in England have been scanning sewage samples for fragments of the Sars-CoV-2 virus, using the data to detect spikes of new cases and the prevalence of variants of concern.
More than 70 per cent of the population are contributing to the effort, findings from which are “shared with local and national decision makers... to stop further transmission”, the department of health said on Thursday.
The programme is being led by the Joint Biosecurity Centre, with samples taken from manholes in the street, which generally serve a local area, and at sewage treatment works, which serve wider areas such as a city or town.
However odious, wastewater surveillance “compliments other testing programmes and public health actions”, the department of health said, and “has the benefit of detecting the virus in asymptomatic individuals”.
Andrew Singer of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology said in October that because the virus’s genetic material can be detected in wastewater “ahead of local hospital admissions... wastewater could effectively become the ‘canary in the coal mine’ for Covid-19”.
Analysis of wastewater is “low-cost, anonymous and immediate”, added Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern of the University of Bath.
https://m.in-en.com/article/html/energy-2304971.shtml
Graphene electrode materials for large-scale energy storage vanadium batteries come out
On June 9th, it was learned from Changsha University of Science and Technology that the team of Professor Ding Mei and Jia Chuankun of the school has independently developed and designed the world's first large-scale growth equipment for flow battery electrode materials, and developed a large-scale growth equipment. Graphene composite electrode materials for large-scale energy storage vanadium batteries can significantly improve the power density, energy efficiency and cycle life of vanadium batteries, and effectively reduce the cost of vanadium batteries. This technology is expected to provide new ideas for the development of commercial electrodes for large-scale energy storage flow batteries. The related results were published in the famous academic journal "Nano Research" in my country on June 7.
In order to achieve the carbon peak by 2030 and the goal of carbon neutrality by 2060 as scheduled, the development and utilization of new energy sources such as solar energy and wind energy have become research hotspots. However, new energy power generation has problems such as instability and discontinuity, and there is an urgent need to develop advanced large-scale energy storage devices and technologies. Flow battery has become one of the most potential large-scale energy storage technologies due to its advantages such as long cycle life, safety and reliability, fast and deep charging and discharging. However, the most mature vanadium flow battery currently developed still has the commercial bottleneck of high cost and low battery energy density.
Ding Mei introduced that the electrode material is a decisive factor in the cost of vanadium battery power module and battery conversion efficiency. Graphite felt or carbon felt electrode materials commonly used in this type of battery have disadvantages such as low specific surface area and poor catalytic performance, which seriously affect the power, efficiency and service life of the battery.
The latest large-size graphene composite electrode independently developed by the team can effectively improve the specific surface area of ??the electrode and its catalytic performance for the oxidation-reduction reaction of vanadium ions. Experimental data shows that the power density of the vanadium battery assembled with the graphene composite electrode can be increased by more than 80% compared with the original electrode material, and it also exhibits superior cycle stability. At present, this achievement has completed the transformation of patented technology and entered the stage of commercial application incubation and pilot test.
EMEC has therefore partnered with Invinity Energy Systems, supported by the Scottish Government, to deploy a 1.8MWh vanadium flow battery (VFB) to ‘smooth’ tidal generation and create continuous, on-demand electricity to generate hydrogen.
Vanadium flow batteries are a form of heavy-duty, stationary energy storage that are ideal for high-utilisation, industrial settings. They provide hours of continuous power, one or more times per day, through decades of service. Most importantly for EMEC, they suffer no degradation of their performance based on the number of charge and discharge cycles they complete. This makes them the perfect candidate for balancing tidal energy’s cyclical generation patterns.
At EMEC, the flow battery system will store electricity generated by tidal turbines while the tides are flowing, and discharge power at slack tide when the turbines are less active to deliver consistent power to EMEC’s electrolyser. This will optimise hydrogen production at the site to enable tonnes of green hydrogen generation each year.
The projected operation of the battery is shown in the graph (right), which models the total number of cycles per month that the battery is expected to deliver at the EMEC site. It particularly highlights the heavy-duty nature of the application with over 100 deep charge/discharge cycles per month regularly required, a level of utilisation that would quickly accelerate a lithium-ion battery towards end-of-life degradation levels, not to mention likely contravening the manufacturer’s warranty conditions!
Are vanadium flow batteries the missing link in the energy transition?
The potential for flow batteries goes well beyond supporting tidal power with the generation of green hydrogen, as Invinity’s batteries can support any high utilisation application.
The firm recently announced that it will be delivering Australia’s first dispatchable ‘solar power plant’ to a project in South Australia. An 8MWh VFB will be combined with a 6MWp solar array, to unlock low-cost, low-emission energy for the Australian grid.
The vanadium flow battery will charge from electricity produced by solar panels when the sun is at its peak. This electricity can then be delivered when it is most needed, in the evening when grid loads are high from consumer demand, but solar generation is no longer available.
By using vanadium flow batteries to complete this ‘time shift’, solar power becomes dispatchable, as the site will produce approximately 10GWh of solar power each year that can be deployed to the grid when it is most valuable, at any time of day or night, competing directly with conventional coal and gas generation for the first time.
These projects demonstrate that vanadium flow battery energy storage is heading to maturity, and with the market for this technology expected to exceed US$4.25 billion by 2028, flow will play a leading role in the global transition to renewable energy.
https://www.engineerlive.com/content/turning-tide-vanadium-flow-batteries
Matt Harper reveals how vanadium flow batteries unlock the potential of tidal power and green hydrogen
Generating clean energy from the rise and fall of the tide has captured the imagination of engineers for decades. The potential is huge, particularly in the UK, where it has been suggested that wave and tidal stream energy could meet up to 20% of the total electricity demand.
There has been real progress for the industry, with European tidal power recently surpassing a 60 gigawatt-hour cumulative electricity production milestone and over €45m invested in the technology in 2020.
And the best is yet to come. Many of the best project sites around the world are yet to be commercially developed, providing fertile ground for tremendous growth within the industry over the next decade.
One location that has pioneered the testing and demonstration of tidal energy technology is the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland.
Established in 2003, EMEC is the world’s leading facility for testing wave and tidal energy converters in real sea conditions. The centre offers independent, accredited grid-connected test berths for full-scale prototypes, as well as test sites for smaller scale technologies, supply chain companies, and equipment manufacturers.
However, not content with pioneering two transformative energy technologies, the Centre has since expanded activities into new sectors including green hydrogen and installed a hydrogen production plant on the island of Eday, which neighbours the tidal test site. This enables the integration of tidal power with green hydrogen production.
The commercialisation of green hydrogen is an essential step toward a 100% renewable future. Green hydrogen is created and consumed without carbon emissions and can replace fossil fuels in the power sector, as well as enabling the decarbonisation of heavy industry and transport sectors.
Vanadium flow batteries: A unique battery for a unique operation
Tidal generation is predictable yet variable, as turbines generate energy four times a day with the ebb and flow of the tide. This sinusoidal energy generation potential does not provide the continuous supply of power optimal for hydrogen production, so EMEC looked to battery energy storage to address the issue.
For a battery to effectively manage tidal generation it needs to charge and discharge up to four times a day, a duty cycle that would rapidly degrade the lithium-ion batteries that currently dominate the stationary energy storage market.
Solar-coupled energy storage projects typically require just one charge and discharge daily, so by comparison regulating tidal generation presents an extremely heavy duty cycle for a battery system.