Australian battery storage provider Redflow has dropped its product cost below grid price, allowing it to “beat” grid parity.
Through technological improvements and a strong manufacturing relationship with global scalable manufacturing company Flextronics, Redflow says that it has decreased its zinc-bromide (ZBM) battery costs by 50 per cent.
The company is now offering its ZBM product at a cost of $US20c ($28c) per kWh, down from $US48c ($67c) six months ago. With this reduction, Redflow Chairman Simon Hackett said energy from Redflow’s ZBM product drops below grid price. The recommended retail price for the 10kWh ZBM2 and 11 kWh ZBM3 products has been reduced to $US8,000 ($11,217) and $US8,800 ($12,338) – a 16 per cent and 10 per cent reduction respectively.
The products are now available in the Australian market.
Mark Higgins, part of the Steering Committee of the Australian Energy Storage Alliance and Chief Operating Officer at California-based clean energy consultants Strategen, said Redflow’s announcement offers further evidence of industry trends towards “incredibly rapid price declines”.
“These cost declines are going to make it all the more likely that we’ll see storage technology being integrated into all sorts of consumer energy management solutions, from solar PV to electric vehicles,” Mr Higgins said.
“Storage has historically been the missing link in allowing the grid to run more efficiently and for greater consumer control over their energy usage,” he added.
Now that consumer storage technology is commercially ready and economically viable for many applications, Mr Higgins said he believed the industry is entering a transformational era.
Redflow has already outsourced the majority of the manufacturing process for the ZBM to Flextronics. The ZBM electrode, which is still being manufactured in Brisbane, is likely to also be outsourced to Flextronics.
Further, Redflow has started the transition to electrode surface coating ACN13 in its production batteries. The company said in-house testing has shown a substantial improvement in physical operating characteristics and projected lifetime thanks to the new materials.
“These enhancements build upon the continued success of our battery testing program, our migration to ACN13, and continued progress in reducing the manufacturing cost of our products,” Mr Hackett said.
Due to the use of ACN13, Redflow has improved the manufacturing warranty on its ZBM products to 10 years. This new warranty will be available for all new ZBM2 and ZBM3 product sales.
