Redflow is helping to bring power to a remote Thai village stranded in a wildlife reserve by installing 10 of its novel batteries alongside three conventional lithium-ion batteries and using them to store surplus solar energy.
The village of Ban Pha Dan, 70 kilometres from Chiang Mai in mountainous northern Thailand, has been denied power by a ban on power poles in the surrounding wildlife reserve. It has now been supplied with a battery system to store surplus energy from the solar panels for later use, and Redflow believes the case demonstrates the benefits of standalone “microgrids” for remote communities in Asia, Africa and even Australia.
“Just like mobile telephony leapfrogged fixed-line telecommunications in developing countries, microgrids can deliver the benefits of modern technology without the massive infrastructure spend required by grid-based energy utilities,” said Redflow chief executive Tim Harris.
The deal is one of a series that have given a fillip to the Brisbane-based company after it struggled to promote its novel “flow bromide” batteries over the juggernaut of lithium-ion batteries made by Tesla, Panasonic, Samsung and Germany’s Sonnen that have cornered the market for energy storage and enjoyed surging volumes and falling costs.
This microgrid project was initiated by Thailand’s Energy Ministry and the Renewable Energy for Sustainable Association, with financial support from the Energy Conservation Promotion Fund.
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