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Batteries flow battery

Published on November 5th, 2014 | by Jake Richardson

1

Imergy Power Unveils New ESP30 Flow Battery Series

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November 5th, 2014 by  

The CEO of Imergy Power, Bill Watkins, generously agreed to answer some questions related to the company’s new ESP30 flow battery. Check them out following an image of one of Imergy Power’s flow batteries.

esp30smaller1. How many MW of power and how many hours of storage do your flow batteries offer?

There is no technology limitation. Practical application can be up to 10 MW with storage from 2–12 hrs.

2. How large is one of your new modules and how long does it take to construct and install one near a renewable energy source?

It is housed in a standard 20-foot shipping container. Since it’s a containerized product, the installation time is minimal.

3. Who are your target customers for the new modules?

Our customers are Utilities, Commercial and Industrial customers (IT & Data Centers, Building, Big Box Retail Stores, Factories), renewable energy projects, and microgrids.

4. How much does each one cost?

Pricing is application-dependent, but Imergy offers the most cost-effective means of storing power in the industry today.  No other vanadium flow battery company is able to use low-grade vanadium to reduce the cost of its flow batteries from $500 per kilowatt-hour, already an industry benchmark, to under $300 per kilowatt-hour.

5. How large is your potential market and do you expect it to grow?

Energy storage for microgrid applications alone will approach $10 billion over the next 8–10 years, and there are many, many additional applications for energy storage beyond microgrids.

6. Do you have any direct competitors in terms of flow batteries?

There are other vanadium flow battery companies such as Gildermeister, Sumitomo, and RedFlow, but no other vanadium flow battery company is able to use low-grade vanadium to reduce the cost of its flow batteries from $500 per kilowatt-hour, already an industry benchmark, to under $300 per kilowatt-hour. Imergy offers the most cost-effective means of storing power in the industry today.

7. The vanadium and electrolyte in your flow batteries can last a minimum of 20 years? Are there currently any other kinds of batteries that can function so long?

We are not aware of any battery providing such performance. Imergy’s ESP has a proven lifespan with no cycling limitations and an electrolyte chemistry that does not degrade over time. The energy storage system operates in ambient temperature conditions from -20 degrees Celsius to 55 degrees Celsius. The ESP provides flexible charging operation with no impact on life or system efficiency — from 0 to 100% state of charge.

8. Is there any maintenance that your customers need to perform on this type of flow battery? Do they have a warranty?

Our maintenance is low. Our standard warranty is for 5 years but we do offer a 10-year extended warranty.

9. Are your flow batteries considered to be non-toxic because the electrolyte and vanadium are not harmful to the environment?

Yes. In addition, the electrolyte can be reused or reprocessed to extract the vanadium at the end of the project life.

10. Are they also safer, because they are much less likely to ever catch on fire?

Yes, the electrolyte is non-combustible and does not constitute a fire or explosion hazard.

 

Related Stories:

Vanadium Flow Battery Uses Recycled Fly Ash

Vanadium Redox Flow Battery Presentation From Gildemeister (Exclusive Video)

Solar Storage — The Technology Is Here

 

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  • bink

    The Scientist’s (founders) at UniEnergy Technologies (UET) while at DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) innovated the base chemistry that Imergy is using.

    There were three licenses awarded by the government. UET (of course), Watt Joule and Imergy in late 2013. UET is currently using recycled lower grade vanadium in their commercially available system and has been from the beginning so, Imergy is not the first.

    It is quite funny they made no mention of UET as their competition when UET has had a commercially available product for over a year now using stacks and other components with 14 years of proven testing and field performance, as well as the chemistry that makes Imergy’s system work!!!

    The key innovation to make Imergy’s system work was increased energy density and tolerance to gelling directly impacting the increased ambient temperature operating range (-40F to 122F)

    It makes sense that whatever minimal characteristics their electrolyte possesses the others would as well. Now who knows what improvements have been made by any of them, but keep in mind they recently licensed the chemistry, obviously because they had no fix of their own

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