BASF, JenaBatteries cooperate to develop innovative power storage technology

Germany-headquartered redox flow batteries producer, JenaBatteries and German chemicals company, BASF are cooperating in the production of an electrolyte for a battery technology that is particularly suitable for stationary storage of electricity from renewable energy sources and for stabilizing conventional transmission grids. JenaBatteries, which has developed this technology based on a so-called redox flow battery (RFB) with organic materials, thus has the world’s first commercially available technology of this kind. Two liquid organic electrolytes separated by a membrane and stored in separate tanks store the current. BASF will supply one of the two electrolytes as part of the collaboration. This battery material is based on an amine, a chemical intermediate that the company can produce on an industrial scale. JenaBatteries plans to market the first RFB in 2020.

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RFBs store electrical energy in chemical compounds. The size of the connected and scalable tanks is the determining factor for the capacity of the RFB. They are therefore suitable for use as large-format, stationary energy storage units with a capacity of 100 kW and above and a capacity of 400 kW hours and above. With a high degree of flexibility, RFBs enable particularly high outputs of several hundred MW and capacities in the range of GW hours. These properties are particularly useful for renewable energy sources that generate electricity independent of demand. Surplus electricity can be stored and delivered on demand. RFBs last about ten times longer than other batteries because they can be charged over 10,000 times.