‘Flow batteries’ could provide frequency response in the UK for the first time ever, as a modestly sized solar-plus-storage system has been pre-qualified into National Grid’s dynamic firm frequency response (dFFR) market.
Last week energy storage technology provider and system integrator RedT – which prefers the description ‘flow machines’ for its vanadium redox flow, long duration devices – and aggregator / energy data and technology specialist Open Energi achieved pre-qualification status for a 300kWh flow machine installed at an industrial site in Dorset, southern England. The device is coupled with a solar installation with a peak generation capacity of 250kW.
The machine has been integrated with Open Energi’s Dynamic Demand platform, and Open will be tasked with optimising the asset’s performance and revenue generation.
RedT said that flow machine technology was well suited to providing grid services due to their ability to withstand large numbers of daily cycles. Flow machine technology doesn’t degrade like other battery storage technologies, such as lithium-ion.