EWE, a German energy company, announced the progress made in the project of constructing the world's largest flow battery using underground salt caverns in northwestern Germany. The polymer developed by researchers for this purpose has passed the preliminary test.
The accumulator system of a flow battery generally contains two reservoirs containing two different electrolytes. The connection between them is the power generation zone, where the two electrolytes are ion-exchanged across a thin film to store and release electrical energy. The larger the reservoir, the more energy stored.
EWE, in cooperation with the University of Jena in Germany, plans to use underground salt caverns as storage tanks in the municipality of Yemugum, a small town in the northwestern part of Germany. These salt caverns are mined holes left after salt mining. They are bulky and well-sealed and can be used as hermetic repositories. EWE currently operates natural gas storage at eight underground salt caverns in Jemum. According to reports, the storage capacity of two medium-sized salt caverns is enough to power a big city like Berlin for an hour, which means it will be the largest battery in the world.
But the project also faces a number of technical issues. For example, the common liquid electrolyte battery is dissolved in sulfuric acid from vanadium, this solution is more polluting the environment. EWE company recently held a press conference in Berlin, said Jena University researchers successfully developed a polymer that will dissolve in salt water as an electrolyte to meet environmental requirements, the current polymer has passed The initial test.
The project leader, Ralf Rickenberg, said the project is a big step toward making the world's largest battery, but more tests are still needed and the saltwater battery system is expected to be put into operation by the end of 2023 run.
Germany is currently implementing its energy transformation strategy with a plan to generate 80% of renewable energy by 2050, with the ultimate goal of replacing traditional sources of energy with renewable energy. However, one of the problems with renewable energy sources such as wind energy and solar energy is that the amount of electricity generated in different weather conditions is not stable, and thus a huge battery can play a regulatory role.
