A 0.8MWh vanadium redox flow battery is being used to test long-duration energy storage in an industrial, behind-the-meter application at Jan De Nul’s headquarters in Hofstade-Aalst, Belgium.
The operational battery, manufactured by Invinity Energy Systems, is co-located with a 0.6MWp solar photovoltaic array. It stores surplus solar electricity generated during the day for use during the evening, increasing the proportion of renewable energy consumed on site.
Representatives of the European Commission and the energy storage industry visited the Belgian installation to examine the potential role of flow batteries in European energy security and industrial resilience.
Engie owns and operates the battery and controls it through an energy management system. Its Engie Laborelec research centre is studying the vanadium system’s behaviour, efficiency, reliability and maintenance requirements, as well as the effects of different operating conditions.
Unlike conventional lithium-ion batteries, vanadium flow batteries store energy in liquid electrolyte held in external tanks. Their power and energy capacity can be scaled separately, while the chemistry is suited to frequent cycling with limited degradation.
Flow Batteries Europe said these characteristics, together with the technology’s safety profile and long operating life, could make flow batteries suitable for industrial sites and other applications requiring regular, long-duration cycling.
Jan De Nul is using the pilot to match its on-site solar generation with changing electricity demand from its worksite and electric vehicle parking area.
Frederik Van Praet, business development manager at Jan De Nul, said: “At Jan De Nul, we are World Builders shaping the energy transition. One thing has become increasingly clear: resilience and flexibility are becoming more and more important, especially for industry. In this pilot project, we worked with our partners to bring together the renewable electricity generated on site with the changing energy needs of our worksite and EV parking area, using an LDES solution. This gave us valuable hands-on experience in integrating flexibility into our operations, while also helping us understand the role LDES can play in the wider energy transition.”
Matthijs Doclo, head of the Engie Energy Storage Lab at Engie Laborelec, said: “This project has shown us that flow batteries can reliably operate at MWh-scale for behind-the-meter use-cases. Thanks to their high level of safety and robustness against temperature variations and demanding cycling profiles, we believe that flow batteries can be a worthwhile alternative to lithium-ion for industrial sites where safety and reliability are of the highest importance.”
Flow Batteries Europe said the continent would require about 500GW of energy storage by 2040. It argued that domestic development and manufacture of flow batteries could help meet that requirement while strengthening European supply chains and reducing dependence on imported battery technology.
Photo: Representatives of the European Commission and the energy storage industry visit the Belgian installation
Credit: Flow Batteries Europe
