VFlowTech

SINGAPORE, 7 February 2023 – Advocating for environmental sustainability has been a persistent objective for many, with a focus on renewable energy. In recent years, the cost of renewable energy has experienced a rapid decline. As a result, the need for efficient, long-lasting energy storage solutions has become increasingly crucial to meet the growing demand for renewable energy.

IPP Project Collaboration with Newcastle University

The Industrial Postgraduate Programme (IPP), supported by the Economic Development Board (EDB) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG), has enabled VFlowTech to nurture our very own team member, Reuben Tan, to further his PhD studies at Newcastle University.

This project collaboration seeks to develop a hybrid battery by combining the flow battery and lithium-ion battery, coupled with a hybrid electrical topology and energy management system. Complementing VFlowTech’s interest in further developing renewable energy storage technology, the company will be working with Reuben on the development of a hybrid energy storage solution to improve its system performance, safety, and economics. This project will be supervised by me and my colleagues, Dr Jianfang xiao and Dr Sze Sing Lee, based in Singapore.

About VFlowTech

VFlowTech is a Singapore-based energy storage solutions provider manufacturing low-cost and efficient modular vanadium redox flow batteries. VFlowTech’s long-term vision is to drive the world toward energy equity where everyone can access clean energy at affordable pricing. With an energy storage solution that has an expected life span of 25 years, VFlowTech has one of the safest and most environmentally friendly battery technologies. VFlowTech was incubated in the CleanTech lab of Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, and benefits from unique IP arising from many years of intensive research at the university. VFlowTech batteries can store renewable energy over a long duration and are designed to address issues of performance degradation, thermal runaway, and product reliability on safety. Website: www.vflowtech.com | Corporate Video Link

Why Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries?

Conventional energy storage technologies such as lithium-ion and lead acid batteries have limited functionality, are not environmentally friendly and experience performance degradation over time.

Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries address this issue, having low energy density that can deliver consistent amounts of power over long periods. They are also safe and recyclable, have a longer than 25-year lifespan, a long discharge time, and have a discharge depth of 100%. This makes them the best solution for large-scale battery storage systems.

Why Hybrid Energy Storage Systems?

Hybrid Energy Storage Systems, comprising of two or more types of energy storage technologies tend to outperform any single-component energy storage devices. This lowers cost, increases system efficiency, and lengthens the system’s lifetime while operating at an optimal level.

Following VFlowTech’s unique proprietary technology, the company also aims to develop next-generation energy storage technologies by hybridizing the flow battery with lithium-ion or other technologies. This will improve the safety and performance of the hybrid system, which will further support the growing demand for clean energy storage.

Dr. Avishek Kumar, Co-founder, and CEO of VFlowTechsaid: “We are excited to work with our own talent, Reuben and Newcastle University. Their proposed projects fit perfectly with our own research and development plans on renewable energy storage technology, which we are aiming to further commercialize very soon. At VFlowTech, we are proud to have re-invented vanadium redox flow technology and gone on to develop one of the world’s cheapest and most modular vanadium redox flow batteries. Vanadium’s advantages in energy storage include the fact that, unlike many other rare earth metals, vanadium is very common – among the top 15 most abundant elements on the planet.”

Reuben Tan, a student partaking in this project, said: “I am excited to be given the chance to learn and further contribute to the advancements in renewable energy storage technology through this Industrial Postgraduate Programme (IPP). Hybrid Energy Storage Systems have been a trending topic in the renewable energy industry, and I believe that the results of this project will be beneficial and impactful for environmental sustainability. I would like to thank VFlowTech, Newcastle University, Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), and Enterprise Singapore (ESG).”

This project started in January 2023, and we highly look forward to the results of this collaborative project. We hope that this will lead to greater opportunities for collaboration between VFlowTech and Newcastle University.