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By
Andy Colthorpe February 13, 2023
Sumitomo Electric exhibiting at a trade event in Tokyo, Japan in
2020. Image: Andy Colthorpe / Solar Media
Sumitomo Electric will step up its vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB)
business in the US, with plans to invest in local production and
installation capabilities.
The Japanese company said last week that it will invest an initial
US$7.6 million into US production and installation facilities, based
on the expectation of rising demand for the energy storage technology.
Speaking at the DISTRIBUTECH International trade event for the
electricity transmission and distribution (T&D) sectors, Sumitomo
Electric president and chief operating officer Osamu Inoue noted that
the company has been present in the US for the past 50 years of the
company’s 120+ year history.
Inoue talked up the strengths of Sumitomo’s flow batteries, describing
them as “very safe and environmentally friendly,” with an expected
lifetime of 20 years, with reusable electrolyte.
“It is our strategy to promote green transformation and contribute to
the realisation of a decarbonised society through the supply of our
battery systems.”
Sumitomo Electric was the provider of the country’s biggest VRFB
installation to date, a 2MW/8MWh pilot project in the service
territory of investor-owned utility San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).
As well as being the first flow battery to participate in California’s
wholesale energy market, it was also used in a demonstration
project last year as part of a microgrid which powered nearly 70
homes and businesses independently of the grid for close to five
hours.
COO Inoue said the pilot project had been successfully completed,
including six years of operation with “extremely low” capacity fade
from degradation, daily participation in CAISO markets, as well as the
microgrid trial.
The latter is particularly relevant in California, where many
communities are experiencing public safety power shutoff (PSPS) events
– utilities are de-energising distribution networks to prevent
equipment failures that can cause deadly wildfires, such as power
lines being hit by falling trees.
In other words, Sumitomo Electric sees the use cases for the flow
battery including supply and demand adjustment of electricity on the
grid, microgrid applications for emergencies as well as energy trading
for ancillary services like frequency regulation of the grid.
The company was also behind what was until recently the world’s
biggest VRFB system, a 60MWh project in Hokkaido, northern Japan,
which was recently overtaken for the ‘title’ by the commissioning
of a 100MW/400MWh system in Dalian, China. Sumitomo
did also commission a second large-scale Hokkaido project, of
51MWh capacity, last Spring.
Rising tide of US clean energy investments could lift flow batteries
Sumitomo Electric’s announcement comes just a few days after another
Asia-headquartered flow battery company said it would establish US
manufacturing capacity. Singapore’s VFlowTech
plans to use a US$10 million Series A funding round towards setting up
a 200MWh factory in the US to scale up production of its 250kWh
VRFB units.
In mid-January, South Korean VRFB company H2 Inc said it was also
scaling up its US activities, raising US$18 million in a Series B that
it said would help progress a planned 5MW/20MWh
VRFB installation in California at the site of a decommissioned peaker
plant. H2 Inc broke ground on a factory in South Korea last year
with 300MWh annual production capacity, scheduled for opening this
year.
One common denominator these companies share is the likely influence
of the US’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The US$369 billion federal
legislation incentivises both manufacturing and deployment of clean
energy technologies and in an interview last year, one lawyer
specialising in the US energy sector told Energy-Storage.news it could
have a transformative impact on the business case for flow batteries.
Flow batteries are in many ways technically superior to other options
including lithium-ion, Morten Lund of law firm Stoel Rives said, but
despite their lower cost of ownership over their lifetime, their
upfront capital cost remains higher than lithium-ion battery energy
storage systems (BESS), making the investment case tricky pre-IRA.
Last week, Senator Joe Manchin and a bi-partisan group of colleagues
urged the US
to prioritise investment in non-lithium technologies for energy
storage, calling on the Biden-Harris Administration to “use future
funding for both lithium and non-lithium battery chemistries to reduce
America’s reliance on foreign supply chains and strengthen our energy
security.”
Energy-Storage.news’ publisher
Solar Media will host the 5th
Energy Storage Summit USA, 28-29 March 2023 in Austin, Texas. Featuring
a packed programme of panels, presentations and fireside chats from
industry leaders focusing on accelerating the market for energy
storage across the country. For more information, go
to the website.
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
Spokane, Washington. 99212
www.exactrix.com
509 995 1879 cell, Pacific.
Nathan1@greenplayammonia.com
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