CellCube Energy Storage Systems Inc. is a Canada-based battery company that makes batteries that could last for almost two decades. According to the company, the cost of their technology might decrease by 50% within four years. This will potentially increase its uptake over units built with lithium-ion.
The costs of vanadium flow battery units, which can provide power for about four hours, will decrease to up to $150 per kilowatt hour from the original $300, as stated by President Stefan Schauss in a phone interview this month. He also said that batteries that last up to eight hours would go down to $100 from $200.
The renewable energy and utilities supplier have been looking into sun-generated energy and the storage of intermittent wind power. This helps in balancing out the flow of power to deploy electricity when the demand spikes. As for the investment, about $620 billion is needed to meet the needs of the global energy storage which would surge to accruing 942 gigawatts by the year 2040.
President Shauss stated that the stationary energy storage market is at a high point. Besides, a lot of users prefer storage that has an extended duration period. With the combination of lowering the costs of flow batteries, the lithium batteries will have a hard time competing with it.
Lithium-ion batteries have remained the choice of technology for both behind-the-meter and utility-scale storage to date. However, the redox flow battery companies have promised a considerable cost reduction compared to most lithium-ion competitors.