Vanadium vs. Alternatives Flow Batteries
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mikhailnikomarov_vanadium-vrfb-flowbattery-activity-7060276327987195904-u06I?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android
Mikhail Nikomarov, African energy leader; CEO Bushveld Energy; Chairman SAESA; Chairman Vanitec
Excerpt
For non-vanadium flow batteries to be more competitive than VRFBs their electrolyte would need to cost 20 times less than vanadium-based electrolyte. This is based on modeling frameworks developed at MIT's Department of Chemical Engineering, which I shared in a post a few months ago (and link below). Vanadium is ideal for a flow battery, and VRFBs have been proven to not just work but work extremely well (nearly no capacity degradation after over a decade of operation). The only reason that other flow battery chemistries are pursued is because vanadium is not the cheapest base material for electrolyte and, in theory, cheaper materials would create a cheaper electrolyte and thus a cheaper flow battery. The research and modelling from the MIT shows that while this is theoretically possible, the additional costs needed to make other flow battery technologies work (including the cost of more expensive materials for the power module and / or downtime or additional systems to allow the electrolyte to "rest," not to mention lower round-trip efficiencies), mean that the cost of the non-vanadium electrolyte would need to be at lest 10 and likely 20 times less than vanadium-based electrolyte. Only at those really, really low electrolyte costs can non-vanadium flow batteries compete on a total ownership or levelised cost with a VRFB. The challenge to achieve an electrolyte that has a manufactured cost of $10/kWh is imense, making it extremely unlikely, regardless of how cheap the base material is. Even in vanadium electrolyte, around 25% of the cost is not due to vanadium. Between $50-80/kWh is a manufacturing cost. It includes the costs of high purity water and reagents / acids, the cost of manufacturing (e.g. utilities, rent, labour, etc.) and the cost to recover the capital investment for the manufacturing plant itself. While all of these can be brought down significantly with scale, higher energy density, cheaper financing and optimisation, they will never be "free." I cannot envision achieving $10/kWh manufactured electrolyte, although $20-30/kWh may be possible at scale and with an optimised supply chain (and luck). At that price, though, the VRFB would still be cheaper overall.