In a recent interview, chief executive of Invinity Energy Systems PLC (AIM:IES, OTCQX:IESVF) Larry Zulch unveiled two significant developments in the realm of vanadium flow batteries.
These cutting-edge batteries are gaining traction due to their enhanced safety features and long-lasting performance.
The company's sale of six vanadium flow batteries to Taiwan's National Applied Research Laboratories, totalling 1.1 MWh of capacity, has opened doors to a promising future.
Here’s what Zulch had to say to Proactive’s Thomas Warner:
LW: The Taiwanese National Laboratory, looking at energy, decided they wanted to purchase our vanadium flow batteries, partly because they're mandating energy storage, as many different regions are mandating energy storage when you put in renewables. They don't want to have lithium batteries inside buildings. So they're looking for alternatives.
TW: Is the big benefit from that point of view with these vanadium flow batteries that they don't present that same fire risk?
LW: That's right. They don't catch fire, and they don't wear out. And that's another important thing. If you're putting something in as part of your infrastructure, you know, we're all familiar with our batteries and our cell phones and mobile devices wearing out over time and not holding a charge as well. That's not acceptable for something that's part of our electrical infrastructure.
TW: Well, absolutely. And it was quite a heavy implication in that RNS, Larry, that this was a bit of a trial run with the potential greater rollout into Taiwan in the future, depending on how this one goes.
LW: That's right, it could set the template because they do establish policy for Taiwan, which is potentially quite a large market for us. But I must say, Tom, much bigger news for us was the US Department of Energy, providing funding for six different sites using our next-generation product. So they announced that, and that award of funding is vital to our future, and a really strong indication of where we're headed as a product.
TW: They're a great friend to have, I can imagine. Tell us a bit about how much funding we're talking about and about this new generation of product as well, because that might not be something people are very familiar with.
LW: So we have been working for some time with our partners, Siemens Gamesa and Gamesa Electric, their fully owned subdivision, they make wind turbines, and they have been looking for energy storage alternatives. And a few years ago, they determined that vanadium flow batteries made a lot of sense from their perspective for working with wind.
So we entered into a joint development process with them. Well, we're getting close next year, we'll be announcing the product formally and the first customer ship. Well, we applied to the US Department of Energy for support for this next-generation product alongside partners in the United States, the national resource renewable council for independent power producers, and the Department of Energy said that they were going to be providing funding for 84 megawatt hours of this new project.
Just to put that in context, in our entire history as a company, we have yet to deliver 84 megawatt hours. And in fact, the largest flow battery in the United States is 10 megawatt hours. So this is a major affirmation that we are headed in the direction of being able to make a big difference on the renewable energy infrastructure.
TW: Well, absolutely, Larry, it sounds like you've got plenty to be getting along with. But is there anything else that you're expecting in terms of milestones over the next say six months?
LW: Certainly, I mean, we are expecting that we will be formally announcing alongside our Siemens Gamesa, Gamesa Electric, our partnership. And this product, it's a result of that. We've talked a bit about it in the past, but this will be a major announcement. Alongside that, we also have a number of other energy storage projects that are near to completion, near to final signing, and that's when we started announcing them.
So we have a lot of great news, we feel like we're getting that momentum that we're always looking for, to demonstrate that there is an enormous market for energy storage, that lithium batteries, while very useful for certain portions of it, aren't going to meet all the requirements, and that there is a real alternative and now increasingly an accepted alternative to lithium for energy storage.
TW: It also sounds very positive, Larry, it's great to get your thoughts. Thanks very much indeed for your time today. And best of luck with it all.
LW: Thanks, Tom. Thanks for your time today.