Massachusetts-based WattJoule Corp. has entered into an intellectual property licensing agreement to enable the commercialization of Battelle's flow battery electrolyte technology developed over the last several years by the research team at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The research was funded by the Department of Energy (DOE).
‘The redox flow battery is well-suited for storing intermittent, renewable energy on the electric grid," says Imre Gyuk, energy storage program manager at the DOE's Office of Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability, which supported the licensed technology's development and currently funds much of PNNL's energy storage research.
Gyuk says the technology can help balance supply and demand, prevent disruptions, and meet the grid's varying load requirements.
H. Frank Gibbard, co-founder and CEO of WattJoule, says the electrolyte technology developed by PNNL, in combination with his company's high-power stack technology, provide a competitive flow battery platform.
‘Through licensing and in-house development, we are working diligently to obtain all the core technology that will enable the commercialization of flow batteries,’ Gibbard says.
Greg Cipriano, WattJoule co-founder and vice president of business development says the technology increases operating temperature range by 115%, eliminating the need for system cooling. He says it also improves energy energy density – storage – in the liquid by 100%.Â
‘These combined changes significantly reduce volume, footprint and most importantly, cost,’ Cipriano says.
