What are Vanadium Redox Batteries?

Renewable Energy (Other Energy Resources) / Economics, Batteries

Date posted: 07/19/16

Teresa Matich reports that lithium batteries may reign supreme when it comes to cellphones, laptops and electric vehicles. But for larger-scale energy storage, some are looking at alternative metals and technologies. Enter Vanadium redox batteries. First successfully created by Dr. Maria Skyllas-Kazacos of the University of New South Wales in the 1980s, Vanadium redox flow batteries use sulfuric solutions to power themselves. A vanadium electrolyte passing through a proton exchange membrane allows the battery to work, with a solution filling two tanks on either side. Unlike other batteries, such as those of the lithium-ion variety, vanadium redox batteries do not wear out. Testing has shown they can be charged and have 200,000 charging and discharging cycles, with research suggesting an infinite lifetime. However, vanadium redox batteries are quite a bit bulkier than other types. As Cleantech Canada explains, vanadium redox batteries are not ideal for smaller scale, mobile applications, but they definitely fit the bill when it comes to large scale storage projects, or smaller scale microgrids. For a long time, commercial development of vanadium redox batteries was stymied due to a lack of interest in energy storage, and also to patents that stopped companies from advancing their own models. However, there could be a change on the horizon for vanadium redox. Dr. Kazacos stated in 2014 that countries like Japan and Germany had started providing subsidies to the energy storage industry. In Japan, a need for energy storage rose in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011. Specifically, Sumitomo is aiming for commercial production of vanadium redox batteries. From a consumer point of view, vanadium redox batteries could provide a helpful energy storage solution that would allow households to avoid exorbitant prices for electricity rates. Dr. Kazacos also pointed out that the batteries would create grid-power back-up during off-peak periods. Read on ..