Industry body Battery Council International (BCI) announced the formation of a new Flow Battery Industry Group for existing and new association members. It will develop and expand the US supply chain.
Scott Childers, Vice President of essential power at Stryten Energy will chair the group. Other founding members include CleanTech Strategies, CMBlu Energy and Invinity Energy Systems.
A memo from Roger Miksad, BCI executive vice president, said last August that much procurement of the key components presently must come from overseas. The group would seek to take on projects to encourage the development and expansion of US supply chain availability of key components of a flow battery, he said. These include stack, DC power electronics, pumps, tanks, electrolyte and AC inverters.
US-based manufacturers themselves often must source their materials from non-“partner countries” such as China and Russia, as well as from countries somewhere between “partner” and non-“partner” such as India, he added.
BCI said the concept for the group grew out of public-private partnership discussions. Membership will be open to flow battery developers and manufacturers, component suppliers, users, government and academic experts, as well as other stakeholders.
Flow batteries are a natural fit with its existing member services, according to BCI. The industry group’s initial mandate is to:
- bring together flow battery manufacturers and suppliers
- develop approaches to address key common issues facing the industry
- develop strategies to strengthen and grow the North American supply chains for flow battery manufacturers.
They include testing, safety and industry statistics.
The group will host several flow battery-specific sessions at the BCI Convention and Power Mart Expo in Louisville, Kentucky, next month.
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Roger Miksad said the group would encourage the development and expansion of the US supply chain
