Horizon starts flow battery pilot to test viability in extreme conditions and remote grids

Horizon Power has officially started the 12-month pilot of a long duration vanadium flow battery in Kununurra, to prove whether or not the technology will stand up to the hot, arid conditions.

The 78 kW / 220 kWh vanadium flow battery was lifted into place on 1 October and the pilot was timed to start with a ribbon cutting event by Western Australia energy minister Reece Whitby.

The installation has been a long time coming: Horizon Power bought the battery in mid-2023 from VSUN Energy, a division of Australian Vanadium, and it had to go through a long period of factory testing in Perth before the journey north. 

The experiment will test whether the VFB can solve technical issues around remote storage in harsh and very hot locations, while managing peak demand periods and providing long periods of 100 per cent renewable energy.

The battery was made by North American company Invinity, and uses Australian Vanadium’s vanadium electrolyte.

“Kununurra, with its hot and humid climate, is a challenging environment for battery energy storage,” said Horizon Power CEO Stephanie Unwin in a statement.

“Piloting the vanadium flow battery in these extreme conditions will help us to learn more about its capabilities and the potential for it to be effectively integrated into our network, much of which is subject to extreme temperatures.

“This long duration energy storage pilot supports our focus on solving the important technical challenge of long duration storage and performance in extreme environments, supporting us with our decarbonisation goals.”

Horizon Power’s energy network is spread across a distance of 2.3 million square kilometres, which it says is the largest catchment area run by any power provider in the country.

Since 2022, the company has been testing off-grid and standalone power sources in the state, some as replacements for fossil fuel generators, in order to strengthen electricity reliability in very remote areas.  

 Kimberley MP Divina D’Anna is excited about what long duration battery storage could mean for people in her electorate. 

“It’s a major step towards providing clean, reliable energy for regional and remote communities, tailored to withstand our unique climate,” she said in a statement.

“It is important to help secure affordable and resilient power for our communities in the Kimberley and beyond.”

During the opening of the pilot Australian Vanadium CEO Graham Arvidson said the new use case for flow batteries has only just arrived in Australia, because the new phase of the country’s energy sector means the business case for long duration storage will finally stack up.