Sumitomo Electric will supply an 8-hour duration vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) to a recently-established municipal power company in Niigata, Japan.

A seven-year observation of a vanadium flow battery in California from Sumitomo Electric has been completed, while US lab PNNL has found an alternative, food-based electrolyte which it said boosted capacity and longevity.

Sumitomo Electric will step up its VRFB business in the US, with plans to invest in local production and installation capabilities.

The developer of one of the world’s biggest battery energy storage systems (BESS) installed globally so far will be taking its vanadium redox flow systems into the international market, beginning with a pilot in Belgium.

Utility San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) and Sumitomo Electric (SEI) have launched a 2MW/8MWh pilot vanadium redox flow battery storage project in California to study how the technology can reliably integrate renewable energy and improve flexibility in grid management.