Australia’s battery maker RedFlow has completed trials of a large-scale energy storage system (ESS) with its zinc-bromine flow batteries.
The company charged and discharged 48 batteries in four strings, producing 50V to 720V on a DC bus coupled and tested on a 14kW inverter connected to the grid.
RedFlow aims to commercialise a large-scale containerised solution with a nominal voltage of 440V-750V DC that can produce 0.6MWh of energy. The ESS is designed to incorporate 60 batteries in a transportable 20-foot shipping container.
“The fact we now also have a cost competitive large scale and high voltage product capable of deployment in the field places us in a strong position,” said RedFlow CEO Stuart Smith.
According to RedFlow, the 3kW/8kWh zinc-bromide battery module is designed for the integration into ESS for a range of stationary applications. Its zinc-bromine batteries are capable of a deep charge and discharges on a daily basis, enabling storage of intermittent renewable energy, managing peak load on the grid and supporting off-grid or microgrid power systems.
“We believe the market opportunities for this product for large scale energy storage from wind and solar and for a variety of “mini-grid” applications are considerable,” said Smith.
RedFlow and US-based Flextronics entered a manufacturing agreement for the commercial scale production of the company’s flow batteries earlier this year.