Flow battery development article

[YoungStranger]

came across this in the UK's Daily Telegraph about flow battery developments. The paper is a right wing broadsheet paper, but the writer is one of their more progressive financial columnists...

Holy Grail of energy policy in sight as battery technology smashes the old order

I am interested in the threat posed by flow batteries to Teslas energy storage plans

 

[deonb]

My top advice really for anyone who says they’ve got some breakthrough battery technology is please send us a sample cell, okay. Don’t send us PowerPoint, okay, just send us one cell that works with all appropriate caveats, that would be great. That sorts out the nonsense and the claims that aren’t actually true.

- Elon Musk

 

[Johan]

The threat is small because:
1) there are no commercially (viable) available flow battery solutions for sale to customers
2) if flow battery technology should develop faster than solid anode/cathode + electrolyte then Tesla Energy will just build flow batteries!

Tesla are not married to LiCoMa ion batteries, it just so turns out they are the best technology currently available. Tesla are agnostic to the type or chemistry of the battery, they just want the best battery, all variables considered (cost, volume, weight, safety, cycle life, energy storage capacity, power capacity, charging capability).

 

[callmesam]

The latest report by the National Audit Office shows that the estimated subsidy for these two reactors has already jumped from £6bn to near £30bn. Hinkley Point locks Britain into a strike price of £92.50 per megawatt hour - adjusted for inflation, already £97 - and that is guaranteed for 35 years.

 

[YoungStranger]

My top advice really for anyone who says they’ve got some breakthrough battery technology is please send us a sample cell, okay. Don’t send us PowerPoint, okay, just send us one cell that works with all appropriate caveats, that would be great. That sorts out the nonsense and the claims that aren’t actually true.

- Elon Musk

I get that, but these are real projects, aiming at less than 100 dollars a kilowattt hour, and would be direct competition for stationary storage. It's probably not a threat to The automotive side (although swopping liquid electrolyte might be feasible). The authors targets are Nuclear and base load generation not tesla.

In reply to Johan, I don't think that the Gigafactory could adopt to flow battery technology, although I am sure Tesla would use whatever is cost effectivite for storage ang superchargers.

 

[deonb]

I get that, but these are real projects.

No, it's not. It even starts off saying it's 5 to 10 years away and that "there are still problems to sort out with the "calendar life" of storage chemicals".

Which put it in the same category as 99.99% of battery "discoveries" out there.

This is not a thing, until it's a thing.

 

[Brando]

Redflow batteries are a fascinating development in energy storage. CEO of Redflow Simon Hackett shows me around his home and office, both of which are all mainly running on solar PV and Redflow ZCell batteries.
Redflow ZCell - Zinc plating - electrical storage - acts like a battery

 

[Brando]

The latest report by the National Audit Office shows that the estimated subsidy for these two reactors has already jumped from £6bn to near £30bn. Hinkley Point locks Britain into a strike price of £92.50 per megawatt hour - adjusted for inflation, already £97 - and that is guaranteed for 35 years.

can't under estimate corruption

 

[Brando]

Flow battery technology seems to hold great promise.
No one seems to have commercialized yet. Aluminum plants have a great potential to create flow battery using molten Al.
Will they do it? They may lack the imagination. Australia Aluminium companies should strongly consider.

google search:
aluminium flow batteries