ARRA SGDP Raytheon Ktech (Flow Battery Solution for Smart Grid Renewable Energy Applications)

Raytheon Ktech and EnerVault was to integrate EnerVault’s Vault-20 battery energy storage system (250 kW, 1 MWh) with a Helios dual-axis tracker 180 kW photovoltaic (PV) system. The system was to be deployed at an agricultural site in California’s Central Valley. It was to store the energy generated and dispatch power to run an irrigation pump and inject energy back into the utility grid during peak times to help offset demand from a section representing 4 percent of California’s electricity demand. The modularity of the system provides scalability for multi-megawatt deployments. The Vault-20 consists of electrolyte tanks and transportainers, which house stacks, pumps, control system, and power conditioning systems. Technology development was to progress from 15x15 cm lab-scale cells and 20-layer stacks, to a 2-5 kW prototype system, then a 30kW alpha system, concluding with a 250 kW beta system. EnerVault planned to begin manufacturing flow battery stacks in its Northern California plant within 12 months of project completion.