{"id":470965,"date":"2024-02-29T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T05:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/?p=470965"},"modified":"2024-02-29T06:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T05:30:00","slug":"energy-storage-made-sustainable-table-and-salt-can-do-the-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/energy-storage-made-sustainable-table-and-salt-can-do-the-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy storage made sustainable: table and salt can do the job"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A big tank, a generous amount of water, and abundant table salt. It isn\u2019t the incipit of the ingredients and tools needed to cook a meal for the whole neighborhood, but what\u2019s required to create a safe and efficient battery to store energy from your solar panels. Don\u2019t venture into DIY, though; this Dutch company knows better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why this is important:<\/h2>

Behind many battery technologies are materials like lithium, mined only in some parts of the world. Europe doesn’t have direct access to them, so it depends on other geographies to manufacture batteries. However, alternative solutions exist, and AQUABATTERY is one of them.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Born in the Delft University of Technology corridors and headquartered in Alphen aan de Rijn, AQUABATTERY<\/a> has developed a robust, climate-proof energy storage solution. Their technology stores power in water, offering both a safe and cheap solution. Most importantly, the system leverages raw materials as available as water and table salt, thus avoiding the reliance on other countries for lithium supply, for instance.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Batteries greatly help the electricity grid, as they ease the adoption of more renewable-generated power, stabilize loads, and manage demand. In light of its nature, the European Innovation Council dubbed AQUABATTERY\u2019s system \u201cone of Europe\u2019s breakthrough technologies and game-changing innovations.\u201d Behind the concept are long years of development. When visiting the new headquarters of the Dutch company,  the CEO Jiajun Cen, summarized the long years this way: \u201cAlthough our idea is straightforward, the technology behind it is quite complicated, but making it work and economically available were the main challenges on our way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

This is an article from our magazine IO Next: Energy Storage<\/a>. In the puzzle of our new energy system, balancing supply and demand for energy is the greatest challenge. And that’s why we dedicate this magazine to that crucial puzzle piece.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Playing with energy potentials, as biological cells do  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The stationary battery comprises two units: a power module containing membrane stacks and a storage unit made of water tanks. During the charging process, saltwater flows through membranes, separating it into acid and base \u2013 each ending in a separate tank \u2013 thereby storing energy. When discharging the battery, the two streams are combined and pass through the membrane again, generating renewable electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving a salt gradient \u2013 the energy created from the difference of salt concentration in two fluids \u2013 creates an energy potential difference,\u201c explains Emil Goosen, founder of AQUABATTERY. The membrane stacks mimic what biological cell membranes do. \u201cThe process replicates active salt transfer, which balances water and salt. After doing some sport or drinking a lot, that balance needs to be restored, and some cells pick certain salt ions from the bloodstream,\u201d he clarifies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, storage capacity and power are scalable, allowing for long-duration energy storage \u2013 between 8 and 100 hours. \u201cIncreasing the size of the reservoirs and the volume of water increases the storage duration time,\u201d Goosen underlines. \u201cTherefore, we make it flexible for each application and storage time needed, combining our power module with different-sized water tanks,\u201d Cen adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flow batteries <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The table salt and water battery falls under the category of flow batteries. A flow battery is one where two liquids, separated by a membrane to enable ion exchange, undergo electrochemical reactions. AQUABATTERY\u2019s system features membrane stacks placed into a 40-ft sea container connected with pipeworks to the water reservoirs. Therefore, it is a good fit for stationary applications \u2013 such as storing excess power from solar or wind parks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the plans for Horizon Europe<\/a> \u2013 one of the EU\u2019s major research and innovation funding programs \u2013 lithium batteries were mentioned hundreds of times, while flow batteries maybe twice,\u201d states Kees van de Kerk. He\u2019s the president of Flow Batteries Europe<\/a>. This umbrella organization brings together several flow battery stakeholders in the EU, which campaigned to promote and showcase the potential of these technologies in the past few years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid the many technological options available in the battery field, flow batteries are optimal for two kinds of usage. \u201cHigh cycle applications \u2013 they can be used for thousands of cycles without compromising their performances \u2013 and long storage ones are the two sweet spots,\u201d he says. In his view, doing so with salt and water is just \u201cbrilliant\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>
<\/div><\/div>
The table salt and water battery: the revolution of energy storage?<\/div>
A big tank, a generous amount of water, and abundant table salt. It isn\u2019t the incipit of the ingredients and tools needed to cook a meal for the whole neighborhood, but what\u2019s required to create a safe and efficient battery to store energy from your solar panels. Don\u2019t venture into DIY, though; this Dutch company knows better.<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Efforts <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To get to this point, AQUABATTERY has worked for almost a decade. From the very first experiments in a garage box, countless hours of research and experiments have been devoted to the idea. In the new company\u2019s production space, several prototypes provide a tangible timeline of the endeavor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first concept was charging and discharging by using fresh and saltwater. The company then shifted to today\u2019s acid-based solution to improve performance and experimented with different membrane stacks. In 2017, AQUABATTERY set up its first pilot in the Delft University of Technology<\/a>\u2019s Green Village. Three years later, the battery took a trip to the island of Pantelleria, Italy, and was tested at a local power plant. The team has radically improved its technology over the years, increasing power and energy density by tenfold. In 2022, the system was also tested in the Dutch town of Gorinchem\u2019s sewage treatment plant, which uses self-generated renewable electricity from a solar park.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>
<\/div><\/div>
Statkraft and AQUABATTERY partner up for game-changing energy storage<\/div>
Norwegian renewables company Statkraft and Dutch climate tech start-up AQUABATTERY partner to develop a promising technology to improve long-term storage of electricity through a flow battery made with salt water.<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Future applications <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Dutch company can offer a ten-kW power module and plans to upscale the technology to 100 kW and 300 kW in the coming years. As part of this process, the company partnered with the Norwegian renewable energy company Statkraft. This year, AQUABATTERY will conduct a pilot project at the water knowledge institute Deltares campus in Delft to validate the technology scaling and the business case for solar-plus-battery storage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For AQUABATTERY\u2019s founders, the best is yet to come. Driven by the expansion of renewables, they foresee bringing their product to different users. \u201cAt first, we target industrial and commercial applications. Companies will be required to have solar panels, so they\u2019ll need long-duration energy storage to manage electricity production and consumption efficiently. Down the line, we envision installing our batteries in solar and wind parks to buffer them,\u201d concludes Cen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A big tank, a generous amount of water, and abundant table salt. It isn\u2019t the incipit of the ingredients and tools needed to cook a meal for the whole neighborhood, but what\u2019s required to create a safe and efficient battery to store energy from your solar panels. Don\u2019t venture into DIY, though; this Dutch company […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2084,"featured_media":506627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[78257,76438],"location":[6763],"article_type":[43139],"serie":[],"archives":[],"internal_archives":[],"reboot-archive":[82815],"class_list":["post-470965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sustainability-nl","tag-aquabattery","tag-battery-magazine","location-netherlands","article_type-features","reboot-archive-green"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":{"subtitle":"Battery technologies don\u2019t necessarily need rare materials to be made. AQUABATTERY has developed a sustainable battery that uses table salt and water to store energy. ","text_display_homepage":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Mauro Mereu","author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/mauro-mereu\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/4.1-e1708619100221.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Sustainability<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Sustainability<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["AQUABATTERY<\/a>","battery magazine<\/a>"],"unlinked":["AQUABATTERY<\/span>","battery magazine<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on February 29, 2024","modified":"Updated on February 29, 2024"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on February 29, 2024 6:30 am","modified":"Updated on February 29, 2024 6:30 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2084"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470965"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=470965"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=470965"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=470965"},{"taxonomy":"archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archives?post=470965"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=470965"},{"taxonomy":"reboot-archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reboot-archive?post=470965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}