Sumitomo Electric supplies flow battery for AI-led smart energy trial in Japan

Sumitomo Electric Industries has delivered a redox flow battery system to Osaka Metropolitan University’s new Innovation Academy Smart Energy Building, supporting a joint demonstration project focused on optimizing renewable energy use with artificial intelligence.

The project integrates Sumitomo’s flow battery with Kansai Electric Power’s cloud-based SenaSon energy control platform. The system will be used to study the AI-assisted management of electricity demand, solar generation forecasting, and battery storage optimization.

The demonstration is part of a government-backed program supporting collaboration between universities, industry, and public institutions.

The Innovation Academy Smart Energy Building is designed as a Net Zero Energy Building (ZEB), combining generation, storage, and energy-saving technologies. The trial will also incorporate a building energy management system (BEMS) to support predictive and responsive control strategies.

Sumitomo said its redox flow battery offers low fire risk and long service life, making it suitable for distributed power and ZEB applications. The electrolyte is reusable, and the system is designed for over 99% recyclability. The company positioned the installation as a model for regional decarbonization and smart community development.

The demonstration forms part of Japan’s wider effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase renewable energy deployment.

In 2023, Sumitomo Electric demonstrated a vanadium redox flow battery as part of a microgrid pilot at San Diego Gas & Electric’s facility in California. The 2 MW/8 MWh system operated with a 99% uptime rate and is expected to retain over 90% of its capacity over 20 years, supporting both market bidding and grid resilience.

In March, Sumitomo Electric launched a new vanadium redox flow battery with up to a 30‑year operational lifespan. The modular system comes in six-, eight-, and 10-hour versions. The company claimed that it delivers 15% more energy density, lowers lifecycle costs by around 30%, and supports long-duration grid storage.