What Advantages Does the Rising Star of Energy Storage, the "Flow Battery," Offer? Here's How CCTV Reported It

As the energy and power revolution accelerates, the strategic importance of energy storage is beyond question. On November 2, 2022, CCTV-2's finance channel aired a series called New Perspectives on Energy Storage, offering a detailed look at flow batteries and zinc-iron flow batteries in particular. WeView's zinc-iron flow battery demonstration project in Shangrao, Jiangxi was featured.

Selected excerpts from the report:

Today we're looking at the rising stars of energy storage. Though still in experimental or demonstration phases, their future market prospects are remarkably broad.

Flow batteries are essentially supersized rechargeable batteries whose capacity can be flexibly adjusted to meet storage demands. How do they work? And what advantages do they have over conventional batteries?

The long duration and long lifespan of flow batteries stem from their operating principle. Energy is stored in the electrolyte, with the positive and negative electrolytes kept in two large tanks outside the battery reactor. During charging and discharging, mechanical pumps move the electrolyte into the reactor where chemical reactions convert between electrochemical and electrical energy. Adding more storage tanks scales up the battery capacity.

Zhang Jinbin, an expert at the Electric Power Planning & Engineering Institute, said in an interview: "In theory, flow batteries have unlimited duration. If you make the storage tanks large enough, or use multiple tanks, the capacity and discharge time can be very long. As costs for long-duration flow battery storage drop significantly, they will form a solid foundation for building our new type of power system."

Beyond all-vanadium flow batteries, different positive and negative electrode material combinations have given rise to iron-chromium, zinc-bromine, and zinc-iron flow batteries. Zinc and iron are abundant and inexpensive raw materials. Once technical bottlenecks in raw material preparation are resolved, zinc-iron flow batteries will be competitive in the market.

In Shangrao, Jiangxi, a 200-kilowatt zinc-iron flow battery storage station has been grid-connected, providing storage for photovoltaic power generation.

WeView's zinc-iron flow battery demonstration project in Shangrao, Jiangxi

"Flow battery storage is a hot topic internationally. Developed countries have been making moves in this area. The focus is on catching up in key materials R&D within five to ten years," Zhang Jinbin said.

As energy storage demand continues to grow, various storage technologies keep emerging. With their clear technical advantages, these will play important supporting roles in energy storage going forward.

About WeView

Founded in 2018, WeView is a high-tech-driven smart manufacturing company for energy storage batteries. The company brings together scientists, electrochemistry specialists, power systems experts, mechanical engineering experts, and industry leaders from smart manufacturing and related fields from around the world, with a long-term commitment to developing new energy storage technologies and manufacturing storage batteries.

In 2022, WeView accelerated construction and production at its "Super-G Factory" smart manufacturing facilities in Zhuhai, Yancheng, and other locations. Through its technology and products, the company empowers energy storage system integrators, new energy power plants, transmission and distribution grids, energy storage stations, and commercial and industrial users including charging pile operators — with the goal of substantially reducing the levelized cost of energy for flow batteries while expanding production capacity.