VRB® Energy Commissions 3MW 12MWh Vanadium Redox Battery Energy Storage System (VRB-ESS®) in Phase 1 of the Hubei Zaoyang 10MW 40MWh Utility-Scale Solar and Storage Integration Demonstration Project.
BEIJING and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, October 31, 2018 — Robert Friedland, Chairman of VRB® Energy, and Dr. Mianyan Huang, Chief Technology Officer and President of China Operations, are pleased to announce today that commissioning of a 3-megawatt (MW) 12-megawatt-hour (MWh) vanadium-redox-battery energy-storage-system (VRB-ESS®) in China is currently underway, with the first battery module of 250-kilowatt (kW) 1MWh successfully commissioned.
The 3MW 12MWh VRB-ESS currently being installed in Zaoyang, Hubei to integrate a large solar photovoltaic system into the grid is the first phase of a 10MW 40MWh project that VRB Energy was awarded in November 2017.
“We are delighted to have successfully integrated the first module of a 1MW 4MWh VRB-ESS into the local grid, allowing our customer Hubei Pingfan to immediately benefit from cost-savings on peak-hour electricity tariffs through energy arbitrage at its industrial park,” said Dr. Huang. “By charging the VRB-ESS at hours when electricity tariff is low and then discharging that power during on-peak hours when electricity tariff is high, our customer will be able to reduce the cost of expensive on-peak power.”
When Phase 1 is completed by the end of 2018, the VRB-ESS will be the largest vanadium flow battery installed in China.
Following this 10MW 40MWh project, Hubei Province has planned a larger 100MW 500MWh energy storage project, to fulfill a key initiative under China’s 2017 energy storage policy to deploy multiple 100 MW-scale vanadium flow batteries. This large project will be the cornerstone of a new smart-energy grid in Hubei, serving as a critical peak power plant to deliver energy reliability and reduce emissions.
Photo: VRB Energy’s quality assurance team performing final inspections of a 250kW 1MWh battery module, part of the 1MW 4MWh VRB-ESS.
Photo: Electrolyte tanks installed for the 3MW 12MWh VRB-ESS at the Hubei Zaoyang project.
About VRB Energy
VRB Energy, formerly known as Pu Neng, is a fast-growing, privately-held clean technology innovator. The company has developed the most reliable, longest-lasting vanadium flow battery in the world, with more than 30 megawatt-hours installed and in construction worldwide, and more than 800,000 hours of demonstrated performance. The combination of VRB Energy’s proprietary low-cost ion-exchange membrane, long-life electrolyte formulation and innovative flow cell design sets it apart from other providers.
VRB Energy’s vanadium redox battery (VRB®) systems store energy in liquid electrolyte in a patented process based on the reduction and oxidation of ionic forms of the element vanadium. This is a nearly infinitely repeatable process that is safe, reliable, and non-toxic. Components can be nearly 100% recycled at end of-life, dramatically improving lifecycle economics and environmental benefits compared to lead-acid, lithium-ion and other battery systems.
VRB Energy is majority-owned by High Power Exploration (HPX), a metals-focused exploration company that also invests in metals and minerals-based technologies to sustainably support an urbanizing planet and the global transition to renewable energy.
HPX is a subsidiary of I-Pulse, a global leader in developing innovative commercial applications for pulsed power technologies that convert small amounts of electrical energy into limitless power to address a broad and growing suite of applications across multiple industrial markets. I-Pulse is a private company with offices in San Francisco, London, Toulouse, Tokyo and Vancouver.
For more information on VRB Energy, HPX and I-Pulse, please visit our websites at www.vrbenergy.com, www.hpxploration.com, and www.ipulse-group.com.