Vanadium redox flow battery maker VRB Energy has begun commissioning a 3MW / 12MWh energy storage system project in Hubei, China, which is expected to help serve as a demonstrator for much larger projects to come.
The project, Hubei Zaoyang Storage Integration Demonstration, is being used to demonstrate the use of storage systems in combination with solar PV. It is being installed in Zaoyang, Hubei Province and is planned to eventually reach 10MW / 40MWh. VRB Energy said yesterday that the demonstration project’s first 250kW / 1MWh battery module has been successfully commissioned.
It could then lead to the development and deployment of a 100MW / 500MWh vanadium energy storage system that would form “the cornerstone of a new smart energy grid” for the region, Energy-Storage.news reported in November 2017 as the demonstration project was awarded. The Hubei project is one of a number of pathfinders being commissioned in China.
The China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has called for greater investment in flow batteries and set up programmes to develop vast projects in excess of 100MW capacity each. One such project already under way is a 200MW / 800MWh vanadium energy storage project in Dalian Province, by Chinese system manufacturer Rongke Power and UniEnergy Technologies (UET).
VRB Energy is one of a handful of makers of flow batteries, which can use a range of materials including vanadium and zinc bromine as electrolytes to create long duration solutions for storing energy that go beyond the 1-4 hours commonly associated with lithium-ion battery systems. The company was formerly known as Pu Neng in China but has now rebranded under the VRB Energy banner. Hubei Zaoyang Storage Integration Demonstration project customer Hubei Pingfan meanwhile is a mining and minerals company with an interest in vanadium.
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