India’s First MWh-Scale Vanadium Flow Battery

Syllabus: GS3/Science and Technology

Context

• The Minister of Power and Housing & Urban Affairs inaugurated India’s largest and first MWh-scale Vanadium Redox Flow Battery (VRFB) system of 3 MWh capacity.
  • This marks a major step towards long-duration energy storage (LDES) solutions, enhancing renewable energy integration and grid resilience.

Lithium Ion Batteries and Their Limitations

• Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable energy storage devices that use lithium ions as the charge carriers.
• They are the dominant battery technology used in: Electric Vehicles (EVs), Mobile phones, laptops, Renewable energy storage systems.
• Working Principle: During discharge, lithium ions move from the anode (usually graphite) to the cathode (lithium metal oxide) through an electrolyte, producing electrical energy.
• Limitations: 
  • Safety Risks: Prone to thermal runaway, fire, and explosion if overcharged or damaged due to flammable electrolyte.
  • Limited Raw Material Supply: Dependence on lithium, cobalt, and nickel concentrated in a few countries leads to supply chain vulnerability.
  • High Cost: Raw material and manufacturing costs make Li-ion batteries expensive, especially for large-scale energy storage.
  • Recycling Challenges: Recycling technology is complex and expensive; global recycling rates remain below 10%.
  • Temperature Sensitivity: Efficiency drops in extreme cold or heat, affecting EV performance.
  • Degradation Over Time: Repeated charging leads to capacity fading and shorter lifespan.

Next-generation (Next-Gen) Battery Technologies

• Next-generation (Next-Gen) battery technologies refer to emerging energy-storage systems that aim to overcome the limitations of conventional lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries.
• Solid-State and Flow Batteries:
  • Solid-state batteries use solid electrolyte solutions, which don’t need a different separator. That makes them safer because they are less prone to leakage from damage or swelling in hot temperatures.
  • Flow batteries, which are powered by reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions, involve two different liquid electrolytes that pass ions or protons back and forth through a porous membrane.
    • These batteries can store larger amounts of energy—as much as the size of the electrolyte cells can contain—and don’t use flammable or polluting materials.

How Next-Generation (Next-Gen) Battery Technologies Are Better Than Lithium-Ion Batteries?

• Higher Energy Density: Next-gen batteries (like Solid-State, Li–Sulphur, Metal–Air) offer 2–3 times higher energy density than lithium-ion batteries.
  • This enables longer EV range, lighter batteries, and better performance.
• Improved Safety: Next-gen batteries (especially Solid-State) use non-flammable solid electrolytes, making them safer and more stable.
• Faster Charging: Allow rapid ion transfer, enabling faster charging — up to 80% in 10–15 minutes.
• Longer Lifespan: Lithium-ion batteries degrade after 500–2,000 cycles. Next-gen batteries can last for 5,000+ cycles with minimal capacity loss.
• Use of Abundant and Cheaper Materials: Next-gen batteries use abundant elements such as sodium, sulphur, zinc, and aluminium, reducing cost and resource dependency.
• Environmentally Friendly: Lithium and cobalt mining causes soil degradation, water stress, and pollution.
  • Next-gen batteries use eco-friendly materials, are easier to recycle, and have a lower carbon footprint.
• Better Temperature Tolerance: Next-gen batteries maintain stable performance across wide temperature ranges which is ideal for Indian climatic conditions.
• Suitable for Advanced Applications: Due to compactness, safety, and power efficiency, next-gen batteries can be used in:
  • Aerospace and defence;
  • High-performance drones;
  • Large-scale grid energy storage.

Government Initiatives 

• National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage (NMTMBS): It was launched by NITI Aayog in 2019.
  • Aims to promote clean, connected, and shared mobility and establish a domestic battery manufacturing ecosystem.
• Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cells (ACC): Launched in 2021 to boost domestic manufacturing of next-gen batteries beyond conventional Li-ion.
• Collaboration with Academia and Startups: Indian research institutions like IITs, CSIR labs, IISc, and C-MET are actively developing next-gen battery materials.
• Global Partnerships: India collaborating with Japan, EU, and the US under frameworks like:
  • India–Japan Energy Dialogue.
  • Indo-US Clean Energy Initiative.
  • EU–India Clean Energy and Climate Partnership.
  • Focused on technology transfer and joint research in advanced battery chemistries.

Source: PIB