Long Duration Energy Storage Demonstration

MSL organized and is coordinating a Long Duration Energy Storage Research and Demonstration Pilot Project focused on innovations in flow battery technology. The project team unites GridFlow (a startup commercializing a novel technology spun out of Sandia National Laboratories), Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC, the utility serving the demonstration site in El Rito, NM), and MSL. The project has been awarded approximately $1 million from an energy storage grant program.

GridFlow Hybrid-Flow Technology

GridFlow’s lithium-ion flow battery is a next-generation energy storage system that separates sulfur into a liquid reservoir capable of providing electricity for 20 or more hours for safer, longer-lasting, and more affordable energy storage. GridFlow’s flow design physically separates lithium metal and sulfur, preventing direct interaction and reducing uncontrolled reactions before they start. Li-Ion batteries, on the other hand, store energy in tightly packed layers, making them prone to thermal runaway, where excessive heat triggers chemical fires or explosions. Lithium and sulfur are among the most energy-dense materials, delivering more energy capacity than batteries using other elements. With a flow architecture, GridFlow enables vastly improved energy density. The lithium-sulfur technology drives an order of magnitude decrease in cost by leveraging abundant, inexpensive materials and a scalable flow architecture. The lithium-ion flow battery delivers 120 kWh, outperforming comparable commercial products that provide just 13.5 kWh.

Demonstration Pilot Project

The overarching goal of the pilot project is to demonstrate that GridFlow’s technology can provide an affordable solution for long duration energy storage applications, and to refine, test, validate, demonstrate, and deploy the GridFlow PowerEdge™ X1 battery system as a viable product on the electric grid. The PowerEdge™ X1 unit will create a back-up system capable of supplying at least 8 kW of continuous power for extended durations. The infrastructure will include the existing KCEC 1.5 MW PV array, located on Northern New Mexico College’s El Rito campus, to demonstrate the ability of the technology to ramp up and down with electricity supply during low demand times, and to inject power into the KCEC distribution grid as needed. This system will also integrate with the planned Resilient El Rito community resilience Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and microgrid when they come online, in line with that projects vision of a “living laboratory” where new technologies and innovations can be validated in a real-world setting.

Pathway to Scale

A successful demonstration of the GridFlow technology will lead to full commercial scale-up for the startup venture. As part of that pathway, the El Rito test apparatus could be enlarged to full service sizing for optimal microgrid operations, and the technology could also be deployed at other key nodes on the KCEC system as it evolves from  100% day-time solar to 24-hour renewable power via energy storage capacity. At that point the technology will be fully validated for large-scale commercial applications and will pursue state-wide as well as national deployments.