Flow battery suppliers are entering a busier phase of long-duration energy storage deployment, with a 2.1 GWh vanadium flow battery project now under construction and new rankings highlighting the companies best positioned for growth.
2.1 GWh project under construction
The world’s largest vanadium flow battery storage project has begun construction with 2.1 GWh of capacity. Half of the project is to serve the European grid and half is to serve AI data centers, according to the report. The project’s location in Europe, rather than China, is discussed in the analysis. The scale is notable for the flow battery sector.
Why flow batteries fit LDES
Blackridge Research says that with increasing global penetration of variable renewable energy, LDES solutions such as flow batteries will be essential to meeting decarbonization goals and grid efficiency and reliability needs. Flow batteries are increasingly used in LDES deployments due to relatively lower levelized cost of storage, safety and reliability. A flow battery converts chemical energy into electrical energy via ion exchange across an ion-selective membrane that separates two liquid electrolytes stored in separate tanks.
Typical chemistries include all-vanadium, iron-chromium, zinc-bromine, zinc-cerium and zinc-ion, but current commercial flow batteries are based on vanadium- and zinc-based chemistries. Vanadium’s ability to exist in four oxidation states makes it preferred for reduction/oxidation processes. Organic flow batteries use naturally abundant elements such as carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, with a fully recyclable electrolyte and a design described as uniquely scalable.
Supplier rankings
Blackridge Research’s Top 10 flow battery companies for 2026 are CellCube (Enerox GmbH), ESS Tech Inc., Invinity Energy Systems, Largo Inc., Lockheed Martin Corporation, Primus Power Solutions, Rongke Power, SCHMID Group, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. and VRB Energy. The list spans vanadium, iron and zinc flow battery players. CellCube/Enerox is based in Austria, ESS Tech in the US with iron flow, Invinity in the UK, Largo in vanadium, Rongke Power in China with vanadium, and Sumitomo Electric in Japan with vanadium redox flow.
The report includes a dedicated comparison of vanadium redox flow and iron flow batteries. For buyers, the supplier landscape is broadening beyond a handful of vanadium specialists, while project scale is moving up.
Flow batteries are increasingly used in LDES deployments due to relatively lower levelized cost of storage, safety and reliability, according to Blackridge Research.
This article was assisted by AI analysis. Please refer to the original source for official information.