The latest battery chemistry to gain traction has been none other than vanadium redox flow batteries. The long life span of a vanadium battery is a key attribute that has widened the opportunities for market growth. Constant developments in the global vanadium redox battery market and its related sectors have changed the current scenario of the flow batteries market at the global level. This is expected to continue in the future, in light of on-going research & innovation trends pertaining to the product design, alternative precursor sources, and emerging end-uses. Some of the key developments that are expected to be fruitful for the global vanadium redox flow battery market are as follows:

Production outlook of vanadium

Alternative precursor sourcing is expected to be a key opportunity and a supporting factor for the VRFB market growth in the future. Ore extraction and steel slag generation have been the main sources of producing vanadium. However, a supply constraint in providing vanadium via these sources has led to fluctuations in the raw material pricing over the recent years, due to tight regulations concerning mining, steel slags, and blast furnaces. Hence, vanadium production activities through alternative secondary sources have been on the rise.

China’s upcoming VRFB Gigafactory and other projects

China is expected to account for the majority of the global vanadium redox flow battery market share, owing to its large scale under construction energy storage projects being constructed by Rongke Power and located in Dalian peninsula. This project is likely to be the largest VRFB system across the globe comprising a capacity of 200 MW / 800MWh. Operation of this battery system is worth USD 500 million and is expected to be effective by 2020.

Modification in product design

Research & development in improving the performance of vanadium redox flow batteries are considered to pace up their deployment in energy storage systems during the forecast period. Scientists from the Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) have developed a mathematical model describing the dynamic behavior of the VRFB battery. This new model was developed in order to detect and monitor any failures, thus, increase the preference of the battery for a wide number of applications and prevent performance degradation in long-term operations. The results of this mathematical model have been provided in the “Applied Energy” journal, 2018.

Penetration across all renewable energy sectors

VRFB energy storage systems have good compatibility with solar and wind which has led to their commercialization at a rapid pace in the last few years. Tidal energy is considered to be a new renewable energy generation sector that is expected to offer favorable growth prospects in the global VRFB market. In April 2018, RedT Energy, a UK-based energy firm was selected as an energy storage provider for the construction of a tidal energy project backed by the European Union. The company’s “Vanadium Redox Flow Machine” storage technology will be employed to support on-site tidal energy generation.

Demand for mobile electricity storage systems:

The increasing requirement of mobile electricity storage systems is likely to create future avenues in the VRB marketplace. Some of such systems are yet to be commercialized, while the rest have been successfully operating in the recent past. For instance, VRBs have been used for on-site mobile storage applications as they do not self-discharge and are capable of storing energy for longer time durations.