Flexbase plans 500 MW redox flow storage project in Switzerland

A redox flow battery energy storage facility with an output of 500 MW will be built in Switzerland. The development was announced by the company Flexbase, which said the project is being built in Laufenburg, a town on the Rhine that lies partly in Switzerland and partly in Germany.

Unlike the lithium-ion batteries commonly available on the market, redox flow batteries cannot burn and do not degrade. Flow batteries also do not require critical raw materials such as lithium or cobalt. Flexbase said the project will be the largest redox flow storage facility in the world. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2025.

The developer said it is also building a data center for artificial intelligence. The company’s new technology center will be built on a 20,000 m² site. The energy storage facility will help the data center to use mainly green electricity and will also help stabilize the grid.

The location was not chosen by chance. Flexbase is building the technology center and storage facility directly at the “Star of Laufenburg.” That was the original connection point for the electricity grids of France, Germany, and Switzerland, which was put into operation in 1958. To this day, the network node is of great importance for the distribution of green electricity in Europe’s interconnected grid.

The storage facility at the network node is intended to ensure that large quantities of green electricity can continue to be distributed to European grids in future.

From pv magazine Deutschland.