Offgrid to trial ZincGel long-duration battery at Keele

Offgrid Energy Labs and Keele University plan to deploy a zinc-bromine battery on the university campus to test the technology under real operating conditions.

The two organisations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding covering a pilot of Offgrid’s ZincGel technology, with the results intended to support a larger multi-MWh installation at Keele.

According to Offgrid, the project will be the UK’s first zinc-based long-duration energy storage deployment using a battery manufactured entirely in the UK, thanks to a production line that opened in Hook, Hampshire back in July. 

While ZincGel is being billed as a long-duration battery technology, it should be noted that it’s being targeted towards applications requiring between six and 16 hours of storage – that means it falls out of contention when it comes to bidding to take part in the Government’s £28 million Ultra-Long Duration Energy Storage Challenge. That process requires technologies that are capable of supplying electricity for at least 100 continuous hours. 

That’s not a problem for Keele, however. It shouldn’t need more than that when it comes to backup energy usage, but Offgrid’s ZincGel will be offering more than a backup. That’s because the battery will operate in a fully islanded configuration. The trial will test its safety, depth of discharge and round-trip performance, while examining how it performs as renewable generation changes throughout the year.

Offgrid expects the system to store approximately 1MWh of surplus renewable electricity each month, which is useful as Keele already operates a substantial renewable energy system. Its Low Carbon Energy Generation Park combines 5.5MW of solar, 1.7MW of wind and an existing 1MW/1.5MWh battery, with generation and storage managed through the university’s Smart Energy Network Demonstrator. The park can provide up to 50% of campus electricity. 

That gives Offgrid an established renewable and storage system in which to test how its alternative battery chemistry performs under real operating conditions. It’ll be interesting to find out too – as zinc-bromine batteries use a different chemistry from the lithium-ion systems that dominate most current battery projects. The benefits, according to Offgrid at least, is that it’s perfect for applications where electricity needs to be stored for longer periods before being discharged.

If the Keele pilot provides the required technical evidence, Offgrid and the university intend to develop plans for a larger multi-MWh system capable of absorbing more surplus renewable generation from the campus.