The EU faces many challenges with decarbonising the economy, lowering energy prices and enhancing its industrial competitiveness. Big investments in renewable energy sources and energy storage facilities are required.
Leveraging flow batteries will be pivotal in helping to power energy systems in a flexible, stable and reliable way. But what exactly are flow batteries? And how can these batteries make a significant contribution to the generation of renewable energies? This is what we want to discuss today with John Alper, Principal Technologist at VoltStorage (FBE Member) and Anthony Price, Secretary General at Flow Batteries Europe (FBE).
The smarter E podcast is all about the current trends and developments in a renewable, decentralized and digital energy industry. Our host welcomes and interviews personalities who shape our industry and drive developments forward. A new episode is published bi-weekly on Thursdays.
Dr. John Alper is Principal Technologist at VoltStorage. He is an expert in electrochemical engineering with 15 years of experience in energy storage R&D across multiple chemistries including vanadium, iron-titanium, and all iron flow batteries. His focus for the last five years has been on the development and commercialization of the Iron Salt Battery for grid scale applications, at VoltStorage GmbH. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.
About Anthony Price, Swanbarton Limited and Flow Batteries Europe
Anthony Price is the Founder and Director of Swanbarton Limited and Secretary General of Flow Batteries Europe. He has worked in the flow battery sector for more than thirty years, starting with the commercialisation of Innogy’s flow battery development. Swanbarton, a consultancy company, provides support to clients across the range of storage technologies: batteries, including flow, sodium sulphur, and other storage systems, focusing on both large- scale systems and behind-the-meter and microgrids.
A former director of the Energy Storage Association, he founded the UK’s trade association, the Electricity Storage Network, to raise the profile of energy storage. He also founded the International Flow Battery Forum. He is a chartered engineer, has an MA from the University of Cambridge and was appointed OBE in 2021 in recognition of his services to the energy storage industry.
