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US Department of Energy Cites Flow Batteries as the Best Choice for Large Scale, Economic Energy Storage
TORONTO, Aug. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sparton Resources (TSX-SRI-V), (“the Company”), is pleased to report today that the US Department of Energy (“DOE”) h
About this update from Sparton Resources Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":" TORONTO, Aug. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sparton Resources (TSX-SRI-V), (“the Company”), is pleased to report today that the US Department of Energy (“DOE”) has, after an extensive study, selected flow batteries as the best option for long duration and low-cost energy storage. Sparton’s interest in the flow battery industry is a 9.975% interest in VRB Energy Inc. held through Sparton’s 90% interest in VanSpar Mining Inc. Full information regarding the history of the Company’s VRB Energy investment is available in its various news releases and corporate filings available at www.sedar.com, and on the Sparton website at www.spartonresources.com. DOE Report On August 16, 2024, The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Electricity, published a comprehensive report on different options for long-duration energy storage (LDES) costs, with flow batteries having been shown to the best rate between costs and performance. The 51-page document (Achieving the Promise of Low-Cost Long Duration Energy Storage) contains cost comparisons between 10 LDES technologies, from electrochemical energy storage to chemical energy storage, mechanical energy storage and thermal energy storage. The 10 LDES evaluated included: Flow batteries (FB), lithium-ion batteries (LIB), lead-acid batteries (PbA), hydrogen storage, sodium-ion batteries (NAIB), electro-chemical double layer capacitors (Supercapacitors/EDLC), zinc batteries, compressed air storages (CAES), pumped storage hydropower (PSH) and molten salt storage (TES). Flow batteries were shown to have the best rate between costs and performance according to today’s technological status, as low as $0.06/kWh, which is close to DOE’s $0.05/kWh target. Lithium-ion batteries hold the second place with $0.07/kWh, followed by zinc battery varieties, e.g. ZnMnO2, with $0.08/kWh followed by the first ever rechargeable battery, the lead-acid battery with $0.09/kWh. Sodium-ion batteries are still in an early stage with $0.26/kWh, but their commercial potential is high, when new electrolytes and even anodeless batteries are developed, according to the report. Supercapacitors suffer from low energy density and high self-discharge rates. From a cost-point perspective, they are expensive, at $0.34/kWh. The DOE established the “Long Duration Storage Shot” protocol in 2021, evaluating various energy storage techno...