RWE converting German salt caverns from gas stores into enormous redox flow battery

摘要

A subsidiary of German utility RWE is planning to convert underground salt caverns currently used for gas storage into large-scale organic flow batteries to store renewable electricity. The initiative, in partnership with battery specialist CMBlu Energy, is the second of its kind in Germany, and is symbolic of how electrification of the European energy system will see electrons replace molecules in many applications. The project could see salt caverns filled with an organic electrolyte solution that will store electricity from variable-output sources such as wind and solar via a process known as oxidation reduction (redox). This requires two separate caverns, one to contain a catholyte and the other an anolyte.