H2 bags order to deploy 8.8 MWh vanadium flow battery system in Spain

H2 Inc., the South-Korea based developer of vanadium redox flow battery (VFB), has been awarded a project to set up a 1.1 MW/ 8.8 MWh VFB system in Spain. The project is commissioned by Spain's energy research institute CIUDEN under the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge. 

The project aims to offer a long-duration energy storage (LDES) solution capable of providing energy backup for up to 8 hours. It is expected to utilize H2's newly developed modular flow battery 'EnerFLOW 640'. The installation of the battery system is scheduled for the second half of next year.

Vanadium flow batteries command several benefits overs conventional lithium-ion batteries in LDES applications, thanks to the former technology's superior fire safety, minimal degradation (rated over 25 years), and ease in terms of the battery's recyclability and reusability of vanadium electrolytes.

The EnerFLOW 640, in particular, is claimed to represent the latest advancements in VFB technology, featuring H2's innovative high-performance stacks organized in a three-block design, aided by 'HyperBOOST' technology. 

"Large-scale LDES systems are rapidly becoming essential technologies in the fight against global warming and the drive towards carbon neutrality, with vanadium flow batteries playing a central role in this transformation", said Dr. Shin Han, Founder and CEO of H2 Inc.

"This project in Spain is another testament to H2's leadership in the global LDES market through our cutting-edge flow batteries. We will continue to expand the global deployment of our batteries, leveraging our significantly increased production capacity", he added. 

Dr. Han also noted that H2 is planning to establish a second VFB manufacturing facility in South Korea, aiming for "gigawatt-hour scale production to enable even more global projects utilizing our state-of-the-art flow batteries." 

H2 manufacturing facility in Gyeryong-si, South Korea currently boasts an annual production capacity of 330 MWh. The company is targeting the European LDES market, with the latest order from Spain considered as the gateway to make in-roads into Europe.

It is to be noted that H2 is building what it claims to be the largest VFB project in the United States since 2021, with a capacity of 20 MWh.