Flow batteries are soon going to be implemented for grid-scale power storage in the US. A test instalation in Modesto, California is being built to provide 25 MW of power for up to 3 hours as well as serving as a demonstration of grid-tied flow battery storage. The Modesto area has wind-energy resources which will serve as the energy source which charges the system.
Flow batteries use large tanks of electrolyte chemicals for a large energy storage capacity, but only a small amount of the chemicals are in contact with the reactive electrodes. This allows large capacity at fairly low cost, since much of the hardware is fairly basic chemical storage tanks and pipes. A more complex kind of flow batteries for electric vehicle charging was also recently noted on EcoGeek.
Primus Power, the company which has developed this technology, received a $2 million award from the US Department of Energy's ARPA-E program last year, and has raised another $11 million in private investment. The company's technology is in the development of low-cost and durable electrodes that will allow flow batteries to function for a long time.
via: EERE News
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written by Felix Hoenikker, June 29, 2011
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JUN 22
"http://www.enervault.com/ seems like a pretty interesting proposition ..."
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