A rethink of the cathode has led Australian firm Redflow to be able to half the cost of its zinc-bromide battery (ZBM)
Following 12 months of R&D work Redflow is ready to launch its latest electrode surface coating, dubbed ACN13, at US$20c per kWh throughput, down from US$48c six months ago.
Traditionally the cathode in a Zinc-Bromide redox flow battery is where the bromide ions are oxidized during charge. ACN13 is designed to be more resistant to oxidation and withstand double the energy throughput of the previous generation, Redflow’s Chairman, Simon Hackett, told BEST.
“This is why the lifetime of the battery now reaches 4MWh energy throughput per nominal and useable kWh of capacity,” he added.
The anode, responsible for reactions involving Zinc, remains unchanged.
Redflow has subcontracted manufacturing of the batteries to Flextronics in North America. The ZBM electrode, which is currently manufactured in Brisbane, will now also be outsourced to Flextronics.
