The proposed EU Battery Passport, which was part of the new EU Batteries Regulation, was a major topic of discussion at last year’s IFBF. You may recall that flow batteries had been excluded from the Regulation; it seems because flow batteries were not considered a relevant technology. Most of those at IFBF 20222 agreed this was wrong. Furthermore, if there was not a fair comparison between all battery types, this would make it difficult for customers and users to consider using a flow battery.
But we have been spreading the word about flow batteries, and the efforts of our colleagues at Flow Batteries Europe to tell policy makers and legislators about them have been successful. The new text of the Batteries Regulation was published this week and it now includes flow batteries. We also need to thank you – the presenters and speakers at last year’s IFBF – for so clearly explaining the progress of flow batteries as an energy storage system.
So, in the future, when a customer wants to compare different batteries from different suppliers, they will see a fair comparison of performance, lifetimes, and the environmental impact of each product. And, if customers don’t already know about flow batteries, they soon will; there are many reasons why the technical and whole-life performance of flow batteries will shine when comparisons are made in a fair way.
Our conferences bring together manufacturers, developers, investors, users, researchers, policy makers and public officials to discuss and shape the energy storage industry. This year in Prague at IFBF 2023, 27–29 June, we will cover all aspects of the flow battery world: the latest research ideas, plans for manufacturing and commercialisation, as well as discussions on business cases, energy security and policy. We are pleased to announce that US Vanadium are a platinum sponsor and exhibitor, and Oxkem a gold sponsor and exhibitor. VSun Energy will also be exhibiting. We are very grateful for their early support.
Our call for proposals is open until 31 January; proposals for conference topics on performance and assessment of flow batteries in operation are especially welcome.
