October 28, 2021: Technology giant Honeywell has entered the energy storage sector with a trial 400kWh flow battery that will be field tested in North Carolina by Duke Energy, the firms announced on October 26.
The flow battery, which will be delivered to Duke Energy’s facility in Mount Holly in 2022, will work with wind and solar generation sources and can store enough energy to be discharged for up to 12 hours, Honeywell claims.
If the trial is successful Honeywell aims to install a utility-scale pilot project of 60MW in 2023.
“As utilities and corporations seek cost-effective alternatives to coal-fired plants with long-duration energy storage solutions, they are switching to renewable energy targets that work around the clock to reduce carbon emissions,” said Ben Owens, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Sustainable Technology Solutions.
“By partnering with Duke, we can implement this energy storage technology at scale and bring to market a revolutionary flow battery to meet growing energy storage demands while assisting companies in meeting their carbon neutral goals.”
“Over the next five years, Duke Energy plans to install almost 400MW of battery storage capacity in our service territory,” said Tom Fenimore, director for smart grid emerging technology and operations with Duke. “We have a keen interest in breakthrough technologies.”
Honeywell did not reveal details of the battery technology other than to say it ‘uses a safe, non-flammable electrolyte that converts chemical energy to electricity’.