RedT Energy, the UK-based vanadium redox flow energy storage machine company, confirmed mid-November that it had finished its so-called ‘Gen 1 market seeding phase’.

This is where its first manufacturing run of 17 machines have been sold and deployed to customers in various market sectors around the world. The flow batteries have been manufactured under contract by Jabil.

“The company has now proven both its small 40kWh and large 240kWh energy storage machines in the field,” said chief executive officer Scott McGregor, who said 10 small and seven larger machines had been installed in Europe and Africa.

“RedT is the first vanadium flow machine company to prove its technology in large commodity manufactured 240kWh energy storage machines,” he said. “This is crucial to the mass adoption of industrial scale energy storage.”

McGregor said the firm was also “very excited” about the sale of its first Gen 2 storage machine, in South Africa, to what McGregor says is one of Africa’s largest telecoms companies.

“It needs to be stable and secure,” said McGregor. “Sub-Saharan Africa has over 240,000 telecom towers providing mobile coverage to 70% of the population. This figure is expected to grow to over 325,000 by 2020, with the majority of sites situated in either off-grid or weak-grid locations.

“There are two good reasons why our machines are ideal. One is economic. Conventional batteries will eventually run out. Batteries are very good for back-up, and you can charge them up and down, but they will degrade, no matter how advanced they are.

“Vanadium doesn’t degrade. This is a liquid electrolyte and has been tested and tested, and it will last at least 20 years.

“The second reason is theft. It’s very easy to pick up a lead-acid battery and take it home. No one is going to be able to take home a 20ft energy storage machine.”

The Gen 2 machine has been sold to Jabil Inala, a South African energy solutions provider and systems integrator that operates across sub-Saharan Africa.