XL Batteries, an American energy storage startup founded in 2019, develops organic redox flow battery technology based on cost-effective, non-corrosive, and non-flammable aqueous electrolytes. The aqueous electrolytes contain innovative organic redox active materials which are stable under charging and discharging conditions. The XL Batteries redox flow battery is suitable for grid-scale renewable energy storage.
Challenges: Store renewable energy at a low cost
By 2022, the world had about 1,185 GW of installed solar capacity and about 906 GW of installed wind capacity. Solar power has grown at a 24% annual rate over the last decade. The US solar industry installed 6.1 GW of capacity in the first quarter of 2023, 47% more than in the first quarter of 2022. On the other hand, the average power of new wind turbines installed in the US in 2022 was 3.2 MW, 7% higher than in 2021.
As more and more solar cells and wind turbines are installed, the ability to store this clean electricity would significantly increase the efficiency and reliability of these intermittent renewable energy sources.
Flow batteries store and release electrical energy through the movement of electrolytes. A typical flow battery consists of two half-cells separated by a membrane. Each half-cell contains an electrode and an electrolyte. The anolyte and catholyte contain redox-active species dissolved in an aqueous or non-aqueous solvent. They are stored outside of the battery. When the battery is charged or discharged, the electrolytes flow through the half-cells in contact with the electrodes via external pumps. This is very different from lithium-ion batteries.
Most flow battery systems are based on vanadium, Fe—Cr, and Zn—Br. They are simple systems and easy to scale up. They can have a long lifespan of more than 20 years. This makes them good candidates for storing renewable energy. However, the capital cost of flow batteries is around $800 per kilowatt-hour, which is more than twice as much as lithium-ion batteries. Therefore, it is necessary to develop cost-effective redox flow batteries.
XL Batteries Technology
XL Batteries develops organic redox flow batteries for grid-scale renewable energy storage based on cost-effective aqueous electrolytes. The core technology of XL Batteries is innovative organic redox active materials for the aqueous electrolytes. The aqueous electrolytes are non-corrosive, non-flammable, and are stable under charging and discharging conditions.
XL Batteries redox flow battery
The diagram below depicts the XL Batteries organic redox flow battery system.
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