Remote flow battery and solar product to supplant diesel in Australia

Western Australia-headquartered Australian Flow Batteries (AFB) has used the Australian Automation and Robotics Precinct (AARP) to demonstrate its diesel replacement system, a mobile, rapidly deployed, hybrid power solution combining a 123 m retractable solar array with containerized vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs).

AFB Managing Director Shane Meotti said having access to a dedicated testing environment that replicates real-world conditions, without the constraints and risks of testing at active operational sites, accelerated AFB’s system significantly.

“The ability to bring potential clients to the site and demonstrate our system’s capabilities in a safe, yet realistic environment has been invaluable,” Meotti said. “The unexpected insights we gained from the comprehensive testing program have helped us refine our technology in ways that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”

According to an AARP outline of the technology demonstration, AFB used one of AARP’s seven test bed sites to begin validation of its system with commissioning of the VRFB, including electrical cable management, monitoring the retractable solar array mechanisms, and studying the impact of environmental conditions on energy production and storage.

The system was packed up and redeployed to conduct 24-hour operational cycles and testing of its response to varying load demands and environmental conditions.

AFB found that the system supplied 63% of AARP’s total power needs from renewable sources during 24-hour operation in low-sun conditions and met up to 82% of power requirements through renewable energy during periods of high variable electricity loads.

A long-term cost analysis found the system’s electricity cost was 75% less than the bill for diesel generation over a decade. The AFB system demonstrated the potential to save 143 liters of diesel per unit, with typical carbon emission reductions of 386 kg per day.

AARP is 38 km north of Perth’s central business district and was officially opened in November 2024 after an AUD28 million ($17.4 million) investment from the Western Australia government.

The center’s facilities are also being used by Solar Energy Robotics, which has been testing an autonomous, waterless, self-powered solar cleaning robot for remote locations; and industrial battery company Switch Technologies and Echion Technologies, which are working on a fast charging four-wheel-drive vehicle battery.

From pv magazine Australia.