Vanadium flow batteries in 2020: Where are they now?

August 10, 2020 | Case Study

China is home to the largest flow battery projects in the world. Back in 2016, the Chinese flow battery developer Rongke Power announced it would build a record-shattering 200 MW/800 MWh flow battery on the Dalian Peninsula, with construction breaking ground in 2018. Similarly, VRB Energy was awarded a contract by the State Grid Corporation of China in 2017 for a 100 MW/500 MWh flow battery in Hubei Province. The first phase of that project – a 10 MW/40 MWh demonstration system – was completed in early 2019. Both projects are due to be completed in 2020, but with half the year gone, the global economy brought to a standstill due to COVID-19, and no announcements from either company since the interim project updates years ago, it's highly unlikely that either flow battery installation will be completed on time.