Australian flow-battery manufacturer Redflow has supplied six energy storage units to a Dutch dairy farm.
The deal is being seen as evidence that the company is going to put its energy into industrial and telecommunications backup applications – especially after the company’s strategic review suggested that the residential market does not provide a model for long-term growth.
Six Redflow ZBM2 zinc-bromine flow batteries will be used to store the Dutch farm’s self-produced solar energy.
The European Union is co-financing Redflow’s first deployment in The Netherlands because of its desire to make businesses more independent on energy.
Redflow global sales director Andrew Kempster said: “Our zinc-bromine flow battery technology is well-suited for this project.”
Redflow also believes its 5kWh/10kWh ZCell residential battery is superior to lithium-ion batteries in terms of per-kilowatt-hour cost, fire safety, operating life and speed of charge. But in terms of initial outlay, lithium-ion is the clear winner.
“The Strategic Review notes that Redflow batteries are more expensive than commercially mature and volume-produced lithium-based batteries,” Simon Hackett, CEO of Redflow, admitted in the report.
Hackett said the firm will “continue ZCell sales to satisfy residential sector demand while recognising that competition, cost sensitivity and commoditisation may limit this segment’s ultimate growth potential for Redflow.”
• Another significant move announced by the company is the relocation of manufacturing from Juarez in Mexico to Southeast Asia to shorten the distance between production and customer.