New threat to lead emerges as economics of flow batteries stack up

The lead battery business — and its counterpart lithium too — need to consider the implications of Europe’s desperate need for long duration energy storage. That requirement is going to throw flow battery technology to the fore.

Clear and present danger

Could the economic case for flow batteries now be compelling? Some in the energy storage industry — admittedly proponents of the technology — are now saying that it is.

They say that despite the high and volatile price of vanadium as an electrolyte, VRFB technology is cheaper in the long run than batteries (see related features in this section).

Others are saying that other chemistries such as ESS’s iron bromine flow batteries bring a cheap electrolyte to the table and will soon radically change any market for long duration storage.

And if that’s the case other sectors of the industry should be starting to get worried.

That means other technologies vying for attention and investment in the increasingly-crowded energy storage space — not least the lead battery industry — need to be on their guard.

Add to this the lead business is already under siege from the huge volumes of lithium cells now being sold and slowly replacing or usurping its traditional markets. (This is all the more worrying given the way, just a decade ago, how disparaging the lead battery industry was about the possibilities for lithium.)

Some of the language, perhaps a better word is hyperbole, being used in the industry is comparable to those of Elon Musk. But there is a rationale behind it. CellCube, for example, announced in May that it had signed a “gigawatt-sized pipeline” of energy storage projects for South Africa.

Many of the dreamers in the industry are talking about the creation of gigaflow-battery-factories. Although it is easy to dismiss this talk as the reveries of frustrated engineers, there is a hard economic base to this. It is perfectly possible to create a medium sized flow battery manufacturing facility for as little as $50 million.

Most of the manufacturing for such a plant requires little beyond regular process engineering — this is all a far cry from a gigafactory’s multi-billion dollar price tag and its need for hyperclean rooms, precision ovens, furnaces, laser processing, finishing rooms, formation cells and all the high-tech wizardry needed to make a lithium battery.

Add to this the fact that flow batteries can be built using low-cost and readily available materials, are scalable and have the ability to partner with applications with power ratings of watts to megawatts.

In terms of the incremental cost of expanding storage capacity, reflected in the cost of tanks and electrolyte, flowbattery protagonists can point out that the overall cost of a long duration battery is lower than for other battery types.

The question from here on in will be: why choose an energy storage system based on, for example, lead batteries, which have to be replaced every few years, when LDES systems such as flow batteries do not?

That is the question that will have to be addressed by the lead battery industry, which can of course have a role to play in the energy storage technologies mix.

Clearly lead, lithium and others will need to keep a careful eye on the upstart competitor looming in the rearview mirror because the energy storage landscape is changing fast.

The European Union is looking for new energy champions faster than it could possibly have imagined at the start of the year. It has been stung into action by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent threat of alreadyreduced gas supplies from Russia being halted completely ahead of winter.

“Long duration energy storage is high on the political agenda and as the European Commission has never really looked kindly on lead — mostly out of ignorance — flow batteries could be the next go-to option after lithium, says one commentator”.

Companies such as Redflow have been nipping at lead’s heels for years in the telecoms infrastructure space and have established a foothold for flow batteries there.

Just weeks ago, the US energy secretary toured the Oregon facility of iron flow battery company ESS, just hours after the Senate approved draft legislation earmarking billions of dollars to tackle climate change, with tax credits for investment in battery storage.

The CEO of vanadium energy storage business Bushveld Energy, Mikhail Nikomarov, who was among those taking part in the IFBF conference, said afterwards that the fact delegates spent time discussing issues such as future regulations and standardization in terms of stack sizing and battery design was “a sign of an industry maturing”.

“All of this is a massive step forward from five years ago,” Nikomarov said.

He is right — and battery technologies already competing in the energy storage landscape should prepare for battle.

Under siege: Other technologies vying for attention and investment in the increasingly-crowded energy storage space — not least the lead battery industry — need to be on their guard.

“Long duration energy storage is high on the political agenda and as the European Commission has never really looked kindly on lead — mostly out of ignorance — flow batteries could be the next go-to option after lithium”

Flow Batteries Europe secretary general Anthony Price says the industry needs more entrepreneurial zeal to keep it in the spotlight and renew interest in the technology.

We need a flow batteries Musk!

There was a mood of optimism as delegates gathered for the International Flow Battery Forum in June — a feeling the industry was at last on the move and making headway.

Just weeks before, CellCube announced a ‘gigawatt’ pipeline agreement for Africa. There were other optimistic signs of action in the sector. (See our news pages at the end of this section.)

But this needed to be taken to the next level, “We need a flow batteries Musk!” said Flow Batteries Europe secretary general Anthony Price.

Elon Musk made his mark in battery storage three years ago, when Australia needed energy storage in size. “Musk just said ‘I’ll build you a 100MW battery; by such and such a date and did just that,” Price says.

“That project wasn’t easy but he had the opportunity, he went for it — and in doing so, he set a benchmark which effectively said to everyone: ‘Catch me if you can’.”

The IFBF conference itself, the 11th in-person conference in Brussels, was hosted by Flow Batteries Europe (FBE) — established by 16 flow battery stakeholders in April 2021 — and debated what comes next for the industry.

IFBF, which launched in 2010, is a conference series rather than a trade association.

In February, 11 European and national associations including FBE signed a letter calling on European legislators to support long duration energy storage as a key step toward achieving carbon neutrality and keeping energy prices stable and affordable. FBE said the industry was ready to expand development of flow batteries, but needed “a signal” of support from legislators.

Price said the FBE welcomed the proposed EU Batteries Regulation and the Battery Passport — an electronic identifier of products to help ensure ethical and sustainability credentials — but excluding flow batteries from the key obligations of the Battery Passport could endanger the competitiveness of the battery value chain and derail decarbonisation goals.

All energy storage technologies need to be allowed to complete on a level playing field for the proposals to work, he said.

However, in terms of the Batteries Regulation, Price said it was written “without a sniff” of flow batteries in it, “almost to the point of excluding the technology”.

To make headway in Europe, Price said organizations need to show they are part of a group representing European business interests. FBE includes extra-European members who see opportunities to be involved in EU projects that can act as a precursor for other parts of the world.

To a certain extent, he says, it’s easier to argue your case with the European Commission, representing a bloc of 27 countries in one go, rather than holding one-to-one talks with nations.

The first objective with the Commission is to make sure flow battery research is given equal priority to other emerging energy technologies, he says. “This can very easily be overlooked either through poor drafting of policy or deliberate or accidental omission.”

That said, Price says flow battery firms have had some “helpful” discussions with policy chiefs, both in terms of the Batteries Regulation and Batteries Passport. “The former Batteries Directive did need updating and it was obviously going to be looking at the role of lithium batteries and so most attention was given to that.”

But whatever form the Batteries Regulation takes when it finally becomes law, the flow battery industry will be up for having an early review, Price says.

The future of flow batteries discussed at the conference was set against the backdrop of Europe’s urgent need to establish secure energy supplies, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “We need huge amounts of long duration storage,” says Price and there’s a compelling argument for flow battery gigafactories — and that requires finance.

“Look at the amount of money that is swishing around ready to be invested in battery projects. There’s some £600 million ($750 million) across funds in the City of London that are looking for battery projects to invest in.

“The equipment needed to get a flow battery manufacturing facility up and running is comparatively easy when compared to its lithium counterpart.

“You need injection moulding machines, robots, presses, rollers and equipment to make carbon electrodes, buy some membranes or separators, then joining and welding gear to put these together in stacks, with some mechanical engineering to hold it together and then there’s the plumbing and wiring. “It’s not difficult at all when you compare it to the clean rooms, ovens, furnaces, processing, finishing rooms, formation cells and all the rest of what is needed to make a lithium battery.”

“I don’t think you would need more than around £50 million to build an extensive flow battery manufacturing plant.”

Australia needed energy storage in size. “Musk just said ‘I’ll build you a 100MW battery; by such and such a date and did just that.”