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Subsequent-level power storage programs are starting to complement the acquainted lithium-ion battery arrays, offering extra space to retailer wind and photo voltaic power for longer intervals of time, and consequently making much less room for fossil power within the nation’s energy era profile. The California circulate battery startup Quino Power is within the combine, and it’s gearing up for the primary ever industrial deployment of its natural, water-based storage know-how.
The Circulate Battery Distinction
Lithium-ion batteries have been the workhorses of the renewable power storage business, however they solely final for a handful of hours. Circulate batteries are among the many next-generation storage programs that may sock away wind and photo voltaic power for 8-10 hours or extra, enabling grid managers to deal with an growing quantity of renewable power whereas enhancing resiliency and reliability.
The essential know-how behind circulate batteries was first patented again within the 1870s. Leveling them up for twenty first century purposes has been a problem. However, in recent times circulate batteries have begun seeping into the stationary power storage market. Speak of circulate battery electric vehicles has additionally emerged, although that’s an outlier (right here’s extra background on the EV angle).
Quino is among the many circulate battery innovators to hunt alternatives within the nation’s rising thirst for renewable power. The Harvard spinoff launched in 2021 with the assistance of a $4.58 million grant from the US Division of Power, and it has not let the grass develop underneath its ft.
Repurposing Outdated Oil Tanks For Good
Quino surfaced on the CleanTechnica radar final yr with a battery formulation consisting of water and an affordable class of natural molecules called quinones. The delicate formulation opens up the potential to chop prices by repurposing old oil tanksin distinction to traditional corrosive circulate battery options.
The corporate additionally acquired an extra Power Division grant of $2.6 million final yr, aimed toward demonstrating that the corporate’s proprietary formulation won’t corrode the carbon metal usually used to manufacture oil tanks.
The oil tank angle is the important thing to Quino’s enterprise mannequin. “Quino Energy has identified a largely untapped opportunity to leverage unutilized oil and fuel storage tank capacity to hold redox flow battery (RFB) reactants rather than oil,” the corporate says of itself.
Citing information from the US Power Info Company, Quino calculates that the prevailing oil tank storage capability of the US would maintain 4 Treatment-Hours of Electricityif all of the oil was changed by the corporate’s RFB electrolyte.
“If fully filled, two 75,000 cubic meter tanks could hold up to 3 GWh of energy in a land area around three times smaller than an equivalent mainstream lithium ion phosphate (LFP) battery facility,” Quino states, taking a poke at a competing power storage know-how.
One Means Or One other, The Price Of Power Storage Is Going Down
In the event you’re questioning why the comparability to LFP know-how, that’s a great query. LFP arrays are cheaper in comparison with Li-ion batteries, however they’ve a comparatively massive footprint. Quino goals to compete towards LFP in instances the place area is at a premium and oil tanks can be found.
“By leveraging existing tank infrastructure that already comes with completed civil works at facilities that are already set up to store hazardous chemicals, Quino expects permitting and installation time for these projects to be greatly reduced,” the corporate explains. They estimate that the put in price of their circulate battery will beat LFP by 30% whereas additionally undercutting typical circulate battery formulation by 40%.
We’re about to seek out out if all of the items come collectively. Earlier this week, Quino Power introduced a partnership with the clear power developer Lengthy Hill Power Companions, in direction of the objective of putting in its first commercial-ready circulate battery, an 8 megawatt-hour venture to be put in on the Excessive Desert Regional Well being Heart in Lancaster, California. A $10 million grant from the California Power Fee will assist transfer issues alongside.
Along with enhancing resiliency and emergency backup on the facility, Quino anticipates that the brand new battery will save the power greater than $10 million in electrical energy payments over 20 years.
“Further, the installation of an on-site flow battery will allow Los Angeles County to expand an existing solar carport installed at this site, dramatically increasing the percentage of clean and renewable solar power generated and consumed by the HDRHC and further reducing electricity costs,” Quino notes.
The Circulate Battery Trickle Turns into A Flood
If all goes based on plan, the allowing course of will get underneath approach this fall in direction of groundbreaking in 2026, with operation anticipated early in 2027.
In the meantime, exercise continues apace elsewhere within the circulate battery discipline. As exemplified by Quino, one department of the hassle entails creating non-toxic, longer-lasting, and more cost effective options to traditional vanadium circulate batteries.
One key piece of the puzzle fell into place final yr, when researchers within the UK and China introduced one other step of their work on creating a brand new membrane for low price, lengthy lasting zinc-iron flow batteries.
One other improvement on the cost-cutting aspect occurred earlier this yr, when the brand new US circulate battery enterprise Storion launched into being. Storion goals to supply vanadium circulate battery producers with a domestically sourced electrolyte formulation on a lease foundation.
The corporate is a mashup of the Stryten Essential E-Storage department of Georgia-based Stryten Power, and the Largo Clear Power department of the Massachusetts agency Largo. Storion additionally notes that it has an unique provide chain cope with one other Largo department, Largo Bodily Vanadium Corp.
“Storion combines access to high-quality vanadium supply from the only operating Western Hemisphere vanadium mine with domestic electrolyte production to establish a fully integrated vertical supply chain for utility-scale vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) used in long-duration energy storage (LDES) applications,” Storion states.
Maintain on to your hats. The howling maniac who occupies the Oval Workplace sailed to victory final fall on a “drill, baby, drill” platform that attracted big-dollar donations from US oil and gasoline business stakeholders, but when issues preserve going the best way they’re, loads of empty oil tanks will probably be sitting round for Quino to scoop up.
“Oil companies expected a big business boom under Trump. Now they’re worried,” reads the headline of a Nationwide Public Radio report on the impression of Trump’s tariffs on the cost of drilling for oil and gasoline drilling within the US.
In the event you don’t imagine NPRimagine the main oil and gasoline providers agency Schlumberger, which reported a uncommon earnings miss at present.
“The company also missed first-quarter revenue expectations, citing a ‘subdued start to the year’ amid particular weakness in its well construction and international businesses,” MarketWatch reported, noting that Schlumberger CEO Olivier Le Peuch cited “evolving tariffs” as a factor.
For US fossil power stakeholders, it’s a basic case of being cautious of what one needs for. You probably have any ideas about that, drop a notice within the remark thread. Higher but, find your representatives in Congress and inform them what you suppose.
Picture (cropped): The US circulate battery startup Quino Power goals to repurpose outdated oil tanks for low price, lengthy length clear power storage (courtesy of Quino through CleanTechnica archive).
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