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Horizon Power, an Australian energy supplier, has begun construction of a vanadium flow battery energy storage system pilot project in the town of Kununurra in Western Australia, which will explore the application of the technology in microgrids and off-grid power systems.
VSUN Energy, a subsidiary of Australian Vandium, is providing all-vanadium flow batteries for the project. Horizon Power is deploying the 78kW/220kWh all-vanadium flow battery energy storage system in Australia Vandium's subsidiary VSUN Energy provides the construction of a vanadium flow battery. Reece Whitby, WA's energy Minister, stressed that the pilot energy storage project will not only support the state's energy transition, but will also help Horizon Power better understand how battery storage systems and microgrids can be deployed across the state.
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This article describes the latest developments in Australia to accelerate the development of flow battery industry, and introduces the working principle, classification of flow battery and its wide application prospects in new energy power generation, power vehicles and emergency energy supply.
Prospects of vanadium industry in Australia
VSUN Energy has entered the Western Australian energy storage market as a REDOX flow battery manufacturer. In December 2023, the company built a production plant specializing in the production of all-vanadium flow battery electrolyte in Perth, the capital of Western Australia, which was funded by the Australian Federal Government's "Modern Manufacturing Initiative". Australian Vandium also received a $3.69 million (US $2.41 million) grant in 2021 along with seven other companies focused on developing Australia's resources and key mineral industry value chains.
Australian Vandium is developing vanadium production and processing capabilities and is building a processing centre that is expected to produce 13,000 tonnes of vanadium pentoxide per year. In addition, the company plans to develop a vanadium mine in Western Australia, which the Australian government has designated as a national priority project and is accelerating its construction. In addition to this, Queensland aims to become a global leader in renewable energy, and the state has abundant vanadium resources to help it achieve this goal.
What is a flow battery?
Flow battery is a kind of electrochemical energy storage technology proposed by Thaller in 1974, which is a new kind of battery. Flow battery by the stack unit, electrolyte, electrolyte storage supply unit and management control unit and other parts of the composition, is the use of positive and negative electrolyte separated, the respective cycle of a high-performance battery, with high capacity, wide field of use (environment), long cycle life characteristics, is a new energy products.
The flow battery is mainly composed of three parts, an external electrolyte storage tank and an internal electrode and ion conduction membrane. The electrolyte is placed in the storage tank outside the reactor, driven by the circulating pump, flows through the reactor, and has an electrochemical reaction, so as to realize the conversion of chemical energy and electric energy.
How a flow battery works
As one of the electrochemical energy storage technologies, flow battery was first proposed by L.H. haller in 1974. The battery technology pushes the anode and cathode electrolyte into the reactor respectively through the pipeline, and converts electrical energy and chemical energy through the valence change of the active element to achieve charge and discharge. Different from other traditional ion batteries, the flow battery belongs to an active chemical substance, and the secondary energy storage battery processing technology stored in the liquid electrolyte is not only different in the battery structure, but also the positive and negative electrolyte is stored energy.
Classification of flow batteries
According to the different forms of electrolytes, flow batteries can be divided into four categories: aqueous flow batteries, non-aqueous flow batteries, mixed flow batteries and semi-solid flow batteries. Among them, water flow batteries have made certain progress, the most representative is the current development of more perfect all-vanadium flow batteries and iron/chromium flow batteries.
Aqueous flow battery: In this type of flow battery, the REDOX active substance is dissolved in an aqueous solution. Because the aqueous flow battery is affected by water decomposition, its working potential window is generally narrow (less than 2V), so its voltage is difficult to reach 2V. Water flow batteries have a long history of research, and there are many large-scale demonstration battery systems in the world, including iron/chromium flow batteries, all-vanadium flow batteries, bromine/polysulfide flow batteries and bromine/quinone flow batteries.
Non-aqueous flow batteries: Due to the voltage limitation of aqueous flow batteries, non-aqueous flow batteries have been extensively studied in recent years. This type of battery uses a non-aqueous solvent, such as acetonitrile, as a solvent and can reach a higher voltage, such as 2.60V. The research of non-aqueous flow batteries has made significant progress in recent years, especially in the last five years, when many organometallic complexes have been used as active substances.
Mixed flow batteries: These batteries combine both aqueous and non-aqueous characteristics to suit specific application needs. Mixed flow batteries are designed to balance performance, cost and practicality to meet the needs of different areas.
Semi-solid fluid battery: As a new type of flow battery, it has unique physical and chemical properties, which may show advantages in specific application scenarios. There is relatively little research on semi-solid fluid batteries, but their potential and applications are being explored.
Future prospects of flow batteries
With new energy generation: at present, wind energy, water energy, solar energy and other new energy generation has strong volatility and intermittency, so dynamic energy storage system is needed to adjust. If you want to develop large-scale power generation, you also need a corresponding large-scale energy storage device, so the flow battery is particularly suitable.
The development of a new type of power vehicle: the flow battery has a strong battery discharge capacity, can carry out large current discharge and deep discharge, as a power vehicle battery is very convenient and practical, and has a wide range of application prospects.
Power generation or standby energy devices: island, remote areas, if the construction of conventional power stations or transmission lines is too expensive, the use of flow batteries and matched with wind, photovoltaic power generation system and other power generation devices, can ensure a stable power supply in these areas. In addition, in the event of an emergency that leads to a power outage, flow batteries can also be used as an emergency energy source.
Conclusion
The rapid development of flow batteries not only provides new impetus for Australia's energy transition, but also provides more sustainable solutions for the global energy industry. With the continuous advancement of technology and the continuous expansion of application scenarios, flow batteries will provide strong support for achieving more efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly energy systems.
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