Despite the fact that prices have dropped considerably in the Lithium ion battery market, ENEA is clearly committed to the use of vanadium technology to store energy in generation plants from renewable sources.
Vanadium, which begins to be known as the new “precious metal”, is a white, gray, malleable and ductile transition material and, without being abundant, is present in nature in almost 70 different minerals.
“We are studying alliances with manufacturers of vanadium redox batteries due to the enormous advantages of this technology compared to others that are more widespreaded up to now,” says Sinuhé Lozano, General Manager of ENEA Grupo®. “We believe that in a very short space of time, redox vanadium batteries will become the first option as energy storage solutions for installations and applications of very different types, thanks to their high scalability, and we want to lead the implementation of this clearly disruptive technology. ”
These advantages include the following:
- Long lifespan (25-30 years) with minimal degradation, versus lithium ion (2-6 years)
- Modular architecture, with simple installation and arrangement
- Instant release on demand and a high energy conversion efficiency
- 100% reusable and recyclable, not the case for Li-ion batteries
- High scalability
- Wide temperature range
- No cross-contamination
- No fire or explosion, or emission risk (versus a Li-ion high risk)
- Long duration and stable storage application