Australia-based flow battery provider Redflow has paused deliveries of new batteries after a number of unexpected product mode failures during remote monitoring at customer sites, according to a filing on the Australian Stock Exchange.
Deliveries will remain suspended until a second set of tests have been completed with “satisfactory results”, said the company. At present, Redflow has roughly US$1 million worth of product back-orders, with 96 batteries in stock and another 120 batteries in transit from the factory.
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The company specialises in zinc-bromide flow batteries for storing and shifting renewable energy, managing peak grid load and supporting off-grid power systems and telecommunications.
Redflow said most of the identified problems were resolved by updating battery software remotely. However, the first tests of battery electrolyte samples from a batch of ten batteries indicated that they could be at risk of failure due to impurities in the electrolyte.
Based on the testing, however, Redflow said its expectation is that the failures are confined to a “small subset” of its stocks.
The second set of tests, usually taking around 10 days, is now being carried out on samples from another 20 batteries in Redflow’s Australian stock. The firm believes any affected batteries can be “remedied economically” via a chemical cleaning process, although this method is still being trialled. If found to work, then this method will be used on any affected batteries before delivery at an estimated cost of around AU$500 (US$377) per battery.
Redflow has generated significant interest in the storage industry after being the first company to launch a flow battery for use at residential level in Australia using zinc-bromine technology.
