While the effectiveness of flow batteries in islanded situations is quickly being recognised, on the grid, the cost of providing that storage is still seen as something of an inhibitor to uptake. Andy Colthorpe spoke with the RedT CEO, Scott McGregor, to get his views on how flow batteries can thrive – and why lithium-ion is not the enemy.

Australian battery developer Redflow has launched what is thought to be the first residential-level storage device to use a flow battery, in its home market.

Energy storage could have a ‘highly critical’ role to play in emerging economies, Aloke Gupta of Imergy Power Systems says. Gupta, who was previously with California’s Public Utilities’ Commission, the state’s regulator, talks about the uses and applications of micro-grids, from his vantage point of view as a flow battery and storage system maker.

Flow battery manufacturer ViZn Energy Systems has won a contract to provide a 128kW/320kWh system for a US department of energy project.

News in brief: Japan’s northern island tackles grid constraints for renewables with 60MWh battery; AES switches on large-scale storage in Northern Ireland; telecoms appear to be a good fit for Imergy’s flow batteries.

Japanese financial services company Orix Corporation has invested in UniEnergy Technologies (UET), a US company delivering large-scale energy storage based around its own vanadium flow batteries.

Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) has selected five companies to deliver nine energy storage projects with a total capacity of 16.75MW.

PV Tech Storage spoke to Nancy Pfund of ‘social impact’ investors DBL Partners, among Tesla’s early backers and participants in two of the top five VC fund plays of this year’s third quarter.

A Silicon Valley-headquartered flow battery maker will provide energy storage for telecommunications networks in China, replacing diesel use in a pilot programme ahead of “wide-scale deployment”.

Australia-based flow battery provider Redflow has halved the price of its zinc-bromide battery (ZBM) to the point where the cost of energy produced from its battery drops below the price of energy from the grid.