Invinity Energy Systems announced a deal to sell a 4MWh flow battery energy storage system (BESS) for use in a solar microgrid project being undertaken by the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians.
The delivery is to PowerFlex, part of EDF Renewables North America. The project is being funded by the California Energy Commission.
Invinity is supplying 18 VS3 vanadium flow batteries as part of the system. Each 4-hour battery has a power rating of 1MW. Delivery is expected before the end of 2024. Financial details were not disclosed.
They will be installed by PowerFlex alongside a new 1MWp expansion to the existing PV solar array at the Rincon Band’s Harrah’s Resort Southern California. This is at the Rincon Reservation near Valley Center, as part of a large-scale solar microgrid project. The batteries will store excess solar generation.
The company said California is one of the world’s fastest growing battery markets and, with 7.3GW, has the most installed battery capacity of any US state. The California Energy Commission is also one of the leading funders of non-lithium-ion long duration energy storage (LDES), the company said.
It has provided support worth $140 million to various projects in the state in 2022–23 and has $190 million worth of funding in the 2023–24 state budget. California is targeting 52GW of battery storage capacity by 2045, the company said.
Invinity has separately just signed a lease on a new manufacturing facility in Motherwell, Scotland, to meet the increasing demand for long-duration energy storage in the UK. Company spokesperson Joe Worthington told BEST the company will have the factory up and running later this summer.
“It’s to scale up the manufacturing,” he said. “The Bathgate facility will eventually focus on a semi-automated production line for the stacks. We’ll then do the actual battery assembly in Motherwell.” It will be 5-6 times the size at 26,000 sq. feet.
