NEWS - 6 December, 2023

DELTARES TO HOST AQUABATTERY PILOT IN 2024

[PRESS RELEASE - Dubai/Delft] AQUABATTERY, a Dutch energy storage innovator, announced its collaboration with Deltares, a leading knowledge institute specializing in water, subsurface, and infrastructure, to install a pilot battery at the Deltares campus in Delft in 2024

This partnership marks a significant milestone in the pursuit of climate neutral infrastructure, showcasing AQUABATTERY's innovative long duration energy storage (LDES) solution and Deltares' dedication to decarbonizing the built environment. The pilot battery will validate the scaling of the technology as well as the business case for solar-plus-battery storage. AQUABATTERY’s LDES can help Deltares’ campus to use their self-generated energy more efficiently and reduce the building’s carbon footprint. Meantime, the battery can elevate the pressure on the local power grid.

AQUABATTERY is a flow-type battery technology, which uses a novel innovation to store renewable electricity in saltwater. During charging from solar PV or wind assets, the electrochemical process turns saltwater into acid and base, while during discharging it recombines them into saltwater. The result is a safe, sustainable, and low-cost LDES which can buffer clean electricity for multiple hours, days or even seasons.

"We are excited to install our saltwater battery at the Deltares campus and showcase a new frontier of the water-energy nexus: energy storage! Combining Deltares’ global expertise in water and sustainable energy with our technology can expand our vision of what climate resilient infrastructure and cities look like" said Jiajun Cen, CEO and co-founder at AQUABATTERY.

“A sustainable battery concept with little environmental impact aligns with our strategy and vision to decarbonise our activities and minimise our carbon footprint. Our water and subsurface software models and data services run 24/7 and are used worldwide. By doing so we add value to social issues, but the models require an electricity base load of 400kW. Our 5,725 solar panels generate more than enough power during the day. An AQUABATTERY allows us to store excess electricity from the solar panels to use at night,” said Ivo Pothof, specialist Renewable Energy at Deltares.

The partnership was announced during the ‘decarbonising cities and the built environment’ day at COP28 in Dubai. The installation of the pilot battery is scheduled for mid-2024. AQUABATTERY is joined by other public and industry partners from the energy sector on this initiative.