Chattanooga, Tenn.-based electricity and telecom provider EPB recently energized a 100-kW/400-kWh vanadium redox flow battery as part of a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and a group of national labs.

The project, which is part of DOE’s Grid Modernization Lab Consortium program, is installed at the site of EPB’s Solar Share community solar array in Chattanooga. The battery system was provided by UniEnergy Technologies (UET).

UET said that the pilot project will help researchers explore how large-scale energy storage can be integrated with smart grid automation to provide consistent output from variable power generation sources, such as solar.

“Our partnership with EPB continues to create exciting opportunities to enhance the security and resilience of the electric grid,” Dr. Thomas Zacharia, Director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said in a Sept. 22 statement. “This project is leveraging our shared strengths in sensing and measurement, advanced control concepts, and cybersecurity to explore the potential value of this emerging technology for the region and the nation.”
UET is working on a similar project with the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) and Hawaii Electric Light Co., Ulupono Initiative, to install a 100-kW/500-kWh flow battery at the Hawaii Ocean Science and Technology Park (HOST Park) administered by NELHA.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in June recognized UET with a Green Chemistry Challenge Award for its work on flow battery technology in partnership with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The technology used in UET's battery was developed originally by PNNL and commercialized by UET. In April, UET also was named the winner of the Microgrid Project laboratory testing award in the Alaska Center for Microgrid Technologies Commercialization industry competition.