Redflow deploys its biggest battery yet, as part of California microgrid

Australian energy storage company Redflow announced on Monday that it had completed a 2MWh zinc-bromine flow battery energy storage system in California, the company’s largest single sale of batteries to date.

The battery energy storage system consists of 192 zinc-bromine flow batteries designed to store up to 2MWh of energy and reduce peak energy use at Anaergia’s Rialto Bioenergy Facility as part of a microgrid. The battery system is comprised of 12 x 160 kWh Redflow Energy Pods which are clustered into four strings tied to four 125 kW Dynapower inverters.

Funded in part by a grant from the California Energy Commission, the microgrid consists of the zinc-bromine flow batteries, a biogas conditioning system to support a 2.0MW biogas-fuelled cogeneration unit, and a microgrid control system. Supply of the batteries was signed in March.

“This is a very significant milestone for Redflow,” said Tim Harris, Redflow’s CEO and Managing Director. “As our biggest single deployment system to date, Anaergia will provide a high visibility MWh reference installation for our growth into the United States and other global markets.”

“I am delighted that we have passed this important stage. We have already had enquiries from multiple customers and Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) companies who have requested a site visit in early January.

“As a result of this successful installation, we are substantially increasing our profile and accelerating our activities in the world’s largest market for energy storage.

“We are excited to be showcasing this deployment and Redflow’s unique battery solution at the Intersolar North America and Energy Storage North America from the 13-15 January 2022 in Long Beach, California, which is the industry’s flagship solar and storage event in North America.”

Reflow’s technical team have been working in California since November to assist Anaergia with the installation of the flow batteries, each of which have been successfully charged and discharged and passed the necessary critical acceptance testing criteria.

Final testing of the entire system will take place in January when Siemens integrates the battery into the microgrid controller, and the facility can absorb the entire 2MWh load of the energy storage system.

“We have enjoyed working with Redflow and have been impressed with the professionalism and commitment undertaken to complete the installation,” said Andrew Dale, the Lead Project Manager for Anaergia.

“Redflow has completed the deployment of the 2 MWh energy storage system, a major milestone for us both, and we look forward to working with them on future energy storage projects.”

The completion of Redflow’s largest single sale of batteries serves as an important milestone for the company following a lacklustre funding round in June which raised a total of $9,693,554.09, falling short of the $17.71 million it had hoped to raise if the offer was fully subscribed.

The funding round was launched in an effort to leverage increasing customer interest in its zinc bromine flow battery technology and fund a push into the US market.

Redflow’s US expansion plans were similarly boosted soon after the closure of its funding round, when it reported to shareholders it had received record orders for its battery technologies during the 2020-21 financial year.

“Having signed our largest global battery sale to Anaergia last quarter, this quarter business development efforts focused on the strong opportunity in the US, where interest levels are growing,” Redflow CEO Tim Harris said, speaking in July.

“We received a Request for Information (RFI) from a large US listed corporate to become an approved supplier of flow batteries.

“While the opportunity is at an early stage, if we are selected, it has the potential to be material. We are excited about the opportunity to leverage our success to sign further Megawatt Hour deals in the rapidly growing US energy storage market.”