Mass Storage Key to Future of Renewables

[jpak]

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=46591

The vanadium-based Flow Battery from VRB Power Systems, Inc. is proving that mass storage for intermittent resources such as wind and solar is achievable, according to the company's CEO Tim Hennessy.

"It's been the engineer's dream for many years to be able to catch the lightning bolt -- to catch large amounts of power and to store it," said Hennessy, speaking on RenewableEnergyAccess.com's Inside Renewable Energy podcast. The Flow Battery, said Hennessy, is one of the answers to that dream.

The solar and wind industries are often criticized for their inability to store huge amounts of electricity. But the Flow Battery is changing that. VRB Power recently signed a deal with Tapbury Management to supply a 1.5-megawatt (MW) storage system for the Sorne Hill wind farm in Donegal, Ireland.

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[JohnWxy]

1. MOre on Vanadium Redox Flow power storage systems by VRB Power

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=115&topic_id=47074


Glad to see VRB Power getting the attention it deserves. The vanadium-based redox regenerative fuel cell technology is economical, convenient (compared to building a reservoir!) and scalable. When we start to reach the 20% level (of total power transmission) of wind power and variability can become an issue, this technology will provide the answer. And it's relatively inexpensive. Wind power even with this storage system is still the cheapest source of power today. And it will only get cheaper in years to come. This technology makes the variability issue no longer an issue.

http://www.vrbpower.com/technology/index.html

"The VRB Energy Storage System (VRB-ESS) is an electrical energy storage system based on the patented vanadium-based redox regenerative fuel cell that converts chemical energy into electrical energy. Energy is stored chemically in different ionic forms of vanadium in a dilute sulphuric acid electrolyte. The electrolyte is pumped from separate plastic storage tanks into flow cells across a proton exchange membrane (PEM) where one form of electrolyte is electrochemically oxidized and the other is electrochemically reduced. This creates a current that is collected by electrodes and made available to an external circuit. The reaction is reversible allowing the battery to be charged, discharged and recharged."


Good post! recommended.