This technical Open Day attracted a wide range of industry stakeholders, including representatives of the European Commission, industry customers, technical cooperation teams and investment institutions. The company fully demonstrated the vanadium flow energy storage package at the site, and introduced the product positioning, technical characteristics and subsequent commercialization promotion plan.

The main product is safe and long life, supporting self-research digital control platform

The technical highlights of this vanadium flow energy storage scheme focus on two dimensions: safety attributes and service cycle. Relying on the electrochemical characteristics of vanadium flow itself, the product does not have the risk of thermal runaway and has an ultra-long cycle life, which meets the operation requirements of large-capacity long-term energy storage projects. After being connected to the grid, the system can smooth the fluctuation of wind power and photovoltaic output, improve the consumption level of renewable energy, and help the regional power grid maintain stable operation.

In addition to the hardware, the company also developed AORTA + energy management system and digital twin platform. The platform can complete the simulation of the operation condition of the energy storage power station, real-time scheduling control, and cover the operation and maintenance optimization of the whole life cycle of the power station. Enterprises can adjust the system scheme according to the typical needs of industrial load regulation or power grid peak shaving, and provide customers with customized energy storage configuration.

Rudolf Sihlovec, CEO of INO-HUB Energy, said at the event that the core goal of the team is to promote the vanadium flow energy storage technology from the laboratory development stage to the engineering implementation. The European energy transition process continues to move forward, and the market demand for safe, stable and long-lasting large-capacity energy storage products continues to rise, which is also the development opportunity of vanadium flow batteries in the local market.

The preliminary verification foundation is solid, and the commercial landing still needs to complete the certification

This company has long been deeply engaged in the research and development of vanadium liquid flow energy storage technology, and its self-developed stack products have been certified by TUV SUD. The demonstration unit built by the enterprise has been running stably and uninterrupted for more than two years, and the operation data under real working conditions have been accumulated. The commercial prototype unveiled this time still needs to complete the certification work of the whole machine system level. After the certification is completed, the enterprise will gradually start the external delivery.

From the perspective of product landing path, this set of prototypes is the key node for enterprises from demonstration projects to batch supply. Local European manufacturers are gradually completing vanadium flow system integration and stack manufacturing capabilities, but the entire industrial chain is not complete.

Europe's local energy storage industry has obvious supply chain shortcomings

The European Union has added vanadium to its list of critical raw materials. In consideration of energy security and independent control of the supply chain, relevant policies continue to support the research and development of local long-term energy storage technology and reduce the dependence on external complete sets of energy storage equipment. However, the limitation of resource endowment is difficult to break through in the short term. The reserves of local vanadium mines in Europe are relatively small, and the supply of high-purity vanadium raw materials and vanadium electrolyte is highly dependent on the external supply chain, so it is difficult to build a fully self-sufficient vanadium energy storage industry chain in a short time.

Such resource pattern has also shaped the common development mode of overseas vanadium liquid flow enterprises. Most European and American energy storage manufacturers choose to focus on system integration, and purchase core raw materials such as battery-grade high-purity vanadium powder and vanadium electrolyte from outside. Vanadium flow batteries have become a very important option in overseas long-term energy storage routes.

Relying on the advantages of resources, smelting and large-scale manufacturing of electrolyte, the domestic vanadium industry occupies an important share in the global vanadium energy storage raw material supply market. With the launch of demonstration projects throughout Europe, the procurement demand for vanadium electrolyte and high-purity vanadium powder in overseas markets has changed, which is worthy of continuous tracking and observation by the industry.