Iron-Chromium Flow Battery Aims to Replace Gas Plants




The four round structures pictured above may look like grain silos but they're actually giant flow batteries. They're part of a demonstration plant going online this week, and proponents say it could represent the future of long-duration energy storage on the electric grid.
Startup EnerVault will unveil tomorrow what it says is the largest iron-chromium flow battery ever made. Installed in Turlock, Calif., the four-hour, 250-kilowatt battery will be charged by a solar array and power an irrigation system. The project was funded by about US $5 million from Department of Energy through the stimulus program and the California Energy Commission.
If this technology demonstration performs well, it will be a step towards much larger flow batteries that could replace natural gas plants or provide round-the-clock power from wind and solar farms.

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Iron-Chromium Flow Battery Aims to Replace Gas Plants - IEEE Spectrum