Merger creates vanadium flow battery giant
UK-based redT energy and US-based Avalon Battery are to merge to create key vanadium flow battery company
Invinity Energy Systems will combine the existing strengths of both companies with the scale and market presence to compete with the major players in a global energy storage market, forecast for £55 billion of new investment by 2024.
A vanadium redox flow battery is used for stationary energy storage, often coupled with industrial scale solar generation for distributed energy projects as it can handle thousands of cycles. Flow battery technology is expected to become a £3.5bn market by 2028.
The merger gives Invinity the scale to compete with lithium-ion battery giants, says Larry Zulch, CEO. The flow battery stores energy in a non-flammable, liquid electrolyte, held in tanks within a self-contained module. Larger, safer and more robust than lithium-ion systems, flow batteries do not degrade with use like conventional batteries and have a 20-25 year lifetime, significantly longer than comparable lithium-ion systems.
The merger will combine Avalon’s technology with redT’s commercial business models. It will be headquartered in the UK and Canada, with regional presence in the USA, South Africa and China, and active primarily across the UK, mainland Europe, North America, Asia, Australasia and sub-Saharan Africa.
The merged company will have a portfolio of more than 40 flow battery energy storage projects worldwide and a development pipeline that includes supplying vanadium flow batteries for the UK’s £41m Energy Superhub Oxford.
redT has developed three generations of these flow batteries since 2016, with sales across multiple applications in the UK, mainland Europe, Australia, Sub Saharan Africa and South East Asia. Last year the company announced a partnership with Statkraft, Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy, to provide a fully financed ‘solar plus storage’ solution to UK commercial and industrial customers.
Last summer, redT saw its flow batteries achieve pre-qualification status from National Grid to provide Dynamic Firm Frequency Response (dFFR) services to the UK electricity transmission grid.
Avalon was founded in 2013 by part of the team that delivered North America’s first vanadium redox flow battery project. It also developed its first-generation vanadium redox flow batteries in 2016 and to date has deployed more than 160 of its flow battery modules across three generations of technology to projects in North America, East Asia, Australia and Europe.
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