Australia''s first ever utility-scale vanadium flow battery is set to be installed in regional South Australia, aiming to demonstrate the potential impact that flow batteries could provide in reaching the energy storage target in the Australian Government''s first Low Emissions Technology Statement.
On behalf of the Australian Government, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has today announced $5.7 million in funding to Yadlamalka Energy Pty Ltd (Yadlamalka Energy) to support the installation of a utility-scale vanadium flow battery at Neuroodla, near Hawker in South Australia.
The $20.3 million project will co-locate a 2 MW / 8 MWh vanadium flow battery with a 6 MW solar PV array. It will connect to the National Electricity Market (NEM) to demonstrate the potential for grid-connected vanadium flow batteries to provide energy and frequency control ancillary services (FCAS). The battery for Yadlamalka Energy will be supplied by Invinity Energy Systems.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and the Australian Government''s first Low Emissions Technology Statement identified an emerging requirement for medium-duration storage, with vanadium flow battery technology seen as a potentially scalable and flexible solution.
Vanadium flow batteries are a form of heavy-duty stationary energy storage, designed for use in high-utilisation applications such as being coupled with industrial scale solar PV generation for distributed, low-emissions energy projects. Vanadium flow batteries store energy in a non-flammable, liquid electrolyte and do not degrade with cycling like lithium-ion batteries. They can be scaled and located with greater flexibility than pumped hydro energy storage, which may increase the potential applications for this technology.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said flow batteries were an exciting technology to address the emerging energy storage requirement.
"The strong uptake of variable renewable energy like solar PV and wind has highlighted the need for increased energy storage and vanadium flow batteries could play a major role in addressing this need, complementing the role of more established technologies such as pumped hydro energy storage and lithium ion batteries in the Australian market.
"We look forward to working with Yadlamalka Energy on this exciting project to demonstrate the benefits of flow batteries connected to the grid, particularly the ability to shift the dispatch of renewable energy into the evening when consumer demand is highest."
Andrew Doman, Chairman and founder or Yadlamalka Energy, thanked ARENA for its support for this important development in South Australia.
"Yadlamalka Energy is committed to developing renewable technology solutions to enable a sustainable energy future. This project will provide vital support for the electricity grid in South Australia, which relies heavily on intermittent renewable energy sources, leaving it vulnerable to unexpected changes in sunshine and wind. ARENA''s contribution is critical to allowing our project to proceed and we look forward to working with them," he said.
Larry Zulch, Chief Executive Officer of Invinity said Australia was playing an important leadership role when it came to emerging energy technologies.
"Time and again, Australia has shown leadership in the adoption of game-changing energy technologies, and Yadlamalka Energy’s and ARENA''s joint vision for this project is right in line with that impressive history. Vanadium flow batteries are increasingly recognised as a robust, reliable and proven way of making renewable energy truly dispatchable at grid scale. We look forward to working with Yadlamalka Energy and ARENA on this latest example of Australian energy leadership."
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The world''s largest solar powered vanadium flow battery is set to shake up the energy storage market.
Australia''s first utility-scale flow battery will be built in regional South Australia, trialling an emerging technology that has potential to transform the way energy is stored.
Led by Yadlamalka Energy, the new project will install hardware from flow battery specialists Invinity Energy System at a site near Neuroodla, approximately 430km north of Adelaide.
The battery will have 2 MW / 8 MWh of capacity and be connected to the National Electricity Market, providing energy to the wholesale market and frequency control ancillary services (FCAS). The system will be charged by a 6 MW solar array that will be installed on site.
ARENA is providing $5.7 million towards the $20.3 million demonstration under its focus on improving the integration of renewable energy into the electricity network, which has to date supported energy storage projects using lithium ion batteries, pumped hydro and thermal technologies.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said flow batteries offer an exciting opportunity to boost energy storage capacity as more renewable energy comes online.
"The strong uptake of variable renewable energy has highlighted the need for increasing storage requirements and vanadium flow batteries could play a major role in addressing the emerging need for medium-duration storage, complementing the role of more established technologies such as pumped hydro energy storage and lithium ion batteries in the Australian market," Mr Miller said.
"We look forward to working with Yadlamalka Energy on this exciting project to demonstrate the benefits of flow batteries connected to the grid, particularly the ability to shift renewable energy generation into more valuable evening peak pricing periods, improving competitiveness in the market."
The project is an initiative of Yadlamalka Energy founder and chairman Andrew Doman, who said the company is committed to developing renewable technologies to enable a future powered by sustainable energy.
"This project will provide vital support for the electricity grid in South Australia, which relies heavily on intermittent renewable energy sources, leaving it vulnerable to unexpected changes in sunshine and wind," Mr Doman said.
The term ''flow battery'' describes a form of medium duration energy storage that has potential to compete with pumped hydro or conventional lithium-ion batteries for grid-scale applications.
Battery supplier Invinity Energy System''s design stores energy in an electrolyte solution containing the element vanadium, which commonly exists as ions with different charges and does not lose efficiency over time, allowing the flow battery to reliably charge and discharge indefinitely. This differs from a lithium-ion battery, which relies on repeated chemical reactions that cause degradation over time and eventually lead to performance losses.
While flow batteries can be produced from an array of different materials, Invinity''s vanadium system benefits from a long operating life, is made from recyclable materials, and unlike other batteries it is non-flammable.
Invinity Energy Systems formed in April 2020 through the merging of flow battery specialists redT and Avalon Battery. To date, Invinity and its predecessors have deployed 40 systems with a collective capacity of 25 MWh, with the new South Australian system on track to become their largest vanadium flow battery when construction is completed by early 2022.
The technology that underpins the design has Australian pedigree, invented in the mid-1980s by Professor Maria Skyllas-Kazacos and her team at the University of New South Wales. While the principles behind vanadium flow batteries aren''t new, the technology is yet to become commercially competitive, with just 100 MWh installed globally so far.
Invinity''s Chief Commercial Officer Matt Harper told ARENA that a long lifespan and low environmental impact set flow batteries apart from other storage technologies.
"The major difference is that with a lithium ion battery, every time you charge and discharge the battery you are one cycle closer to the end of life. Whereas, with our batteries we don''t see any degradation based on cycle life," Harper said.
Invinity''s design has been tested in a laboratory through tens of thousands of cycles, as well as accelerated field trials that replicated the equivalent of thirty years of normal use.
Their modular approach will stack hundreds of small 40 kWh modules to achieve Yadlamalka Energy''s storage objectives, each containing about 1800 litres of the liquid vanadium solution. The solution will last the estimated 25 year life of the battery and can then be reused in other energy storage or metallurgical applications.
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