The 'gargantuan' Scottish factory making long-life batteries the size of shipping containers

A “gargantuan” new plant where long-life batteries for storing renewable energy will be assembled has been opened in Scotland.

The massive factory, in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, will be used to put together modular vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) for projects at home and across the globe.

The batteries, which use an electrolyte containing vanadium and water, are endlessly rechargeable and can be recycled many times.

Invinity Energy Systems, a UK-Canadian technology company which already operates a manufacturing hub for the batteries in Bathgate, West Lothian, is behind the move.

The new facility comes as the firm expands operations to meet a “significant uptick in global demand for its batteries”, which it contends are “a safer, more sustainable and more flexible alternative” to the lithium-ion batteries which have been widely deployed to date.

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The technology can smooth and speed up the transition to low-carbon energy by providing efficient and dependable medium-term storage for intermittent renewable power sources such as wind and solar.

Global tech firm Invinity manufactures vanadium flow batteries at its Bathgate plant, in West Lothian

Batteries vital in energy decarbonisation

According to Invinity, large-scale, utility-grade energy storage is vital to achieving net zero in Scotland by 2045 and the UK by 2050 and for providing security of supply.

The company’s batteries, which are the size of a shipping container, are already in operation at a Scottish Water plant in Perthshire, as well as in England, Australia, Canada and north America.

Up to 50 new jobs are expected to be created at the Motherwell site.

Jonathan Marren is chief development officer for Invinity, formed through the 2020 merger of two existing flow battery companies - UK-headquartered redT and Canada’s Avalon Battery

“The march towards net zero can only really be done with a zero-carbon grid that has been electrified, and that’s going to come from renewables,” said Jonathan Marren, chief development officer for Invinity.

“But the problem you’ve got with much more penetration of wind and solar onto the grid is that it becomes unstable because of the inherent intermittency of renewables.

“To deal with that you’ve got to provide effectively back-up power and stability when the renewables aren’t playing as you might want them to.

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“The vanadium batteries will enable more wind turbines and solar to be connected to the grid in Scotland and elsewhere because you are able to store that power over the times where the typical peaks and troughs of usage are.”

Invinity’s batteries will be used to provide storage for four to 12 hours at a time and can be recharged as many times as needed without losing efficiency.

“The benefits of what we have is that it’s safe, so you can have these in your back yard,” Mr Marren said.

“In a vanadium flow battery there’s an electrolyte that is no more corrosive than car battery acid. It’s mainly made of water. Were there to be a fire, actually it would put itself out because it’s full of water – unlike a lithium battery.

“Vanadium is common in the earth’s crust, as well as being a byproduct of processes such as steel-making.

“It also doesn’t degrade, so after 25 years that electrolyte can be used again in another battery.

“This means we don’t have environmental issues such as where you have to source it from and how you get rid of it after use.

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“What’s more, it loves being used regularly – so unlike our phones, which heat up and start to die after a couple of years because that’s the way lithium cells work, our batteries will perform just as well, if not better, when you are cycling them as many times a day as you can find a use for and will continue operating.

Global vision

“It’s quite an exciting thing. The technology works and is already deployed.

“We’re a global business, and what we are doing now is scaling it up so we can deliver it round the world.”

Invinity was formed through the 2020 merger of two existing flow battery companies, UK-headquartered redT and Canada’s Avalon Battery.

The Scottish bases will play a key role in the company’s expansion.

“The great thing from a UK perspective – and particularly for Scotland – is that we’re going to be doing a lot of this from Bathgate and Motherwell,” Mr Marren said.