Total investment cost of VRFB energy storage project in Zimbabwe

How much does a VRFB cost?

To validate our model outputs, we compare our base case to other LCOS models of VRFBs in the open literature. Lazard's annual levelized cost of storage analysis is a useful source for costs of various energy storage systems, and, in 2018, reported levelized VRFB costs in the range of 293–467 $ MWh −1 (for mid-scale systems ~10 MWh) .

Are VRFBs better than Bess?

VRFBs have a higher capital cost than lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) technology but can offer a lower cost of ownership and levelised cost of energy storage over their lifetime. Yet this detail is often missed when procurement decisions are made.

Can a VRFB be rebalanced?

In contrast, VRFBs can be rebalanced to restore lost capacity without additional capital expenditure. Thus, while VRFBs have significantly higher capacity fade rates than state-of-the art Li-ion batteries, the resilience of the VRFB electrolyte may lead to cost savings over the project lifetime.

Are VRFBs a viable alternative to existing chemistries?

The research and market intelligence firm found that while lithium-ion dominates global energy storage deployments today by market share, various attributes of VRFBs make them a promising option in tandem with existing chemistries.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a VRFB?

Advantages include the long lifespan and durability of VRFBs, their low operating costs, non-flammable design and a low environmental impact, both in manufacturing and in operation.

What is the rate of VRFB component degradation?

We include two additional data points obtained from a recent review on VRFB component degradation by Yuan et al. [26, 57, 58], which cites two experimental values for the rate of capacity decay as 1.3% and 0.067% per cycle (not shown in Fig. 2 because cycling data was not provided).