ViZn Energy, flow battery developer based in Montana US, has installed a 160kWh zinc flow battery for grid storage at Flathead Electric Cooperative’s Kalispell, Montana site.
The zinc flow battery will be used to demonstrate grid-tied services such as peak shaving, frequency regulation, load shifting, backup power, and the potential for black start capabilities, and evaluate the benefits of using battery storage for the end user.
The flow battery by ViZn (formerly Zinc Air) is based on a proprietary zinc-iron alkaline chemistry that uses abundant inexpensive materials and was designed from the outset to be manufactured at low cost.
Flathead Electric’s site is just down the road from ViZn Energy’s facility, which means the flow battery demonstration is locally accessibly for ViZn’s engineers and scientists to analyse the project at utility level.
The comapny said the chemical storage capacity is fully scalable for micro-grids, renewable integration and smart grid applications.
