Production of vanadium flow batteries

Open access Abstract Vanadium Flow Batteries (VFBs) are a stationary energy storage technology, that can play a pivotal role in the integration of renewable sources into the electrical grid, thanks to unique advantages like power and energy independent sizing, no risk of explosion or fire and extremely long operating life.

Image: VRB Energy. The vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) industry is poised for significant growth in the coming years, equal to nearly 33GWh a year of deployments by 2030, according to new forecasting. Vanadium industry trade group Vanitec has commissioned Guidehouse Insights to undertake independent analysis of the VRFB energy storage sector.

The vanadium redox flow battery is promising for commercial applications, but is hampered by high-cost electrolytes that are typically prepared via electrolysis. Here the authors demonstrate cost-effective chemical production of a high-quality vanadium electrolyte using platinum nanoparticles as a catalyst.

In particular, vanadium electrolyte accounts for a large portion of VRFB costs because of the need for expensive vanadium precursor materials and the high cost of electrolyte production. For example, for systems of 10 kW/120 kWh, the cost for vanadium and electrolyte production cost account for 40 and 41%, respectively, of the total energy cost 11.

As we noted in an article last year for the journal PV Tech Power, there are however only three primary vanadium producers in the world, with the majority of vanadium coming from secondary sources as a byproduct of steel production.

The influence of the foundation is marginal compared to the electrolyte. In the 10 considered impact indicators, this leads to a reduction of emission between 0.97% (ODP) and 91.8% (AP). On average, a VFB using reprocessed vanadium electrolyte instead of primary electrolyte has only 53% of potential environmental impacts.