Australian zinc bromide flow battery maker Redflow has kicked off production of its long-awaited third generation “non-lihtium” battery storage offering, with initial orders on track for delivery as early as next month, the company said on Thursday.
The “Gen 3” of Redflow’s10kWh ZMB battery has been in the offing for some years now, promising a new stack design, updated electronics and tank design, increased functionality and – crucially – lower production costs.
“We have been working towards the release of Redflow’s 3rd generation battery for several years with significant engineering design and testing invested in its development since 2018,” said Redflow COO Richard Aird in a statement.
“The Gen3 design delivers significant manufacturing cost reductions while also improving performance through innovations in stack design.
“The Gen3 battery has been designed to increase the amount of automated manufacturing we can apply and sets the platform for fully automated production in the future,”Aird said.
But despite the wait, Redflow says the timing of the new battery’s arrival on the market is good, as demand for longer duration energy storage systems ramps up around the globe – and as lithium battery supplies continue to be stretched to the limit.
“The launch of our Gen3 battery is a monumental milestone in Redflow’s growth strategy,” said Redflow CEO Tim Harris.
“The combination of our new Energy Pod products with the Gen3 battery provides the platform for Redflow to capitalise on the demand for large scale, medium to long duration energy storage systems that we’re seeing emerge around the world.
“Importantly, the Gen3 battery enables Redflow to operate at a competitive price that will deliver further benefits as production scales,” Harris said.
Our wholly owned manufacturing facility in Thailand can scale to up to 80MWh of battery production per annum, supporting our immediate growth plans, and we look forward to delivering Gen3 batteries to our partners and customers in the coming months.”
After a challenging start to the 2020s, including the trials of the global pandemic, staff cuts, pared-back executive salaries, and a trading halt after a less successful than expected fundraising round, Redflow has made steady progress over the past few years.
With a focus on commercial and industrial markets around the globe, the company has delivered more than 2GWh of its Gen 2.5 batteries and notched up 10 million hours of field operations since 2018.
More recently – in May of last year – it lifted the veil on its grid-scale storage offering, dubbed Energy Pod Z, which forms the foundation for the company to deliver large, megawatt-hour energy storage systems.
And earlier this year, Redflow announced a “brand refresh,” including a new logo and website, as well as the appointment of a new president of Americas and chief commercial officer, Mark Higgins.
In its results for the first half of the 2021-22 financial year, Redflow announced a nearly 200% jump in revenue, boosted by the Brisbane-based company’s largest single BESS deployment to date – a 2MWh installation for Anaergia’s Rialto Bioenergy Facility in California, US.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
