SAN LEANDRO, Calif., Dec. 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Quino Energy, a company developing water-based flow batteries, has received a $2.6M grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (DOE AMMTO) under the Platform Technologies for Transformative Battery Manufacturing program. This funding will support Quino’s efforts to demonstrate their innovative aqueous organic quinone redox flow battery (QRFB) technology in carbon steel tanks commonly used in existing oil and fuel storage infrastructure.

Quino Energy will construct and operate a lab-scale 3kW/24kWh large tank form factor (LTFF) QRFB in its facility in San Leandro, CA. This system will allow for rapid identification and mitigation of any potential issues with deployment or operation. In parallel, Quino will establish a second commercial-scale 200kW/2MWh LTFF QRFB field pilot system. Installation of the larger system is expected to begin around the end of Q2 2026 and will be fully operational by the end of 2026. By the end of the project period in mid-2028, the large system facilities will have been operating for at least 18 months.

With the continued electrification of power generation, transportation, and heavy industry, Quino Energy has identified a largely untapped opportunity to leverage unutilized oil and fuel storage tank capacity to hold redox flow battery (RFB) reactants rather than oil. Per EIA estimates, if all existing oil storage capacity in the U.S. was used to hold Quino’s RFB electrolyte instead, there would be enough to hold 4 TWh. If fully filled, two 75,000 cubic meter tanks could hold up to 3 GWh of energy in a land area around three times smaller than an equivalent mainstream lithium ion phosphate (LFP) battery facility.

While conceptually simple, carbon steel tanks have not been adapted for flow battery storage at any appreciable scale. This is primarily because the vast majority of RFBs, including vanadium flow batteries, rely on strongly acidic conditions that will rapidly corrode carbon steel, whereas Quino Energy’s proprietary redox flow batteries operate in mildly alkaline (~pH 12) conditions that are expected to be broadly compatible with carbon steel and are uniquely positioned to demonstrate this application.

With this project, Quino also aims to demonstrate a faster, more affordable route to flow battery installation. While costs for LFP batteries are on the decline, installation costs remain high and some estimates indicate they account for half of LFP installed project costs. By leveraging existing tank infrastructure that already comes with completed civil works at facilities that are already set up to store hazardous chemicals, Quino expects permitting and installation time for these projects to be greatly reduced. If successful, this project will enable a QRFB installed cost 30% lower than LFP and 40% lower than vanadium RFBs.

“Our team is grateful to the DOE for their support of this innovative project. We are thrilled that they share our vision to repurpose oil tank storage infrastructure as flow batteries. These will enable lower installed costs and higher energy density, while also reducing the installation time,” said Eugene Beh, CEO of Quino Energy. “Quino’s battery chemistry is uniquely suited to demonstrate this approach at scale and we look forward to breaking ground on these exciting projects with DOE and investor support.”

"Quino Energy has made exceptional strides in transforming grid-scale energy storage, successfully delivering on their prototype milestones and expanding production capacity. Their groundbreaking approach to repurposing carbon steel tanks, traditionally unsuitable for flow battery storage, has the potential to unlock unprecedented storage capacities. Energy Revolution Ventures is proud to support Quino Energy's pioneering efforts in advancing sustainable energy solutions," added Marcus Clover, Partner at Energy Revolution Ventures. 

Quino Energy has previously received funding through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) to support the development of its flow battery material production line. Quino’s organic quinone flow battery materials can be produced in the U.S. and are expected to cost approximately 25% of vanadium. With these cost advantages and low degradation rates, Quino has the potential to quickly displace vanadium to become the dominant RFB and long-duration energy storage (LDES) chemistry for 8-40 hours of storage.

About Quino Energy

Formed in 2021, Quino Energy is a start-up company that is developing water-based flow batteries that store electrical energy in organic molecules called quinones, for commercial and grid applications. These batteries are predicted to enjoy a unique combination of low capital cost, true fire safety, rapid scalability, and local manufacturability. This is made possible by a number of technological breakthroughs, some of which were first discovered at Harvard University and later licensed by Quino Energy. Please visit quinoenergy.com for more details on the team and the technology.

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