VRB Power Systems Inc. of Vancouver has received the Energy Storage Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award from respected U.S. consultancy and research firm Frost & Sullivan.

I’ve been doing a little research myself into publicly traded VRB and I’m quite impressed by what this company is doing. Basically it focuses on developing electrochemical energy storage systems — i.e. a superior line of batteries — that don’t contain the usual toxic suspects such as lead or cadmium.

All components in the system are either recycable or have an indefinite lifespan. Vanadium is an inert metal that can be reused for other applications, while other plastic and reinforced fibre-glass components are either recycled or safely disposed. Sounds a heck of a lot cleaner than lead-acid alternatives.

I encourage you to visit the company’s Web site for more details, but essentially VRB has two “flow” battery technologies: One is a “Redox” battery based on Vanadium electrolytes that’s ideal for supplying 2.5 kilowatts to 10 megawatts of power for up to four hours; the second uses electrolytes of concentrated solutions of sodium bromide and sodium polysulphide and can be used in much larger utility-grade applications, ranging from 10 megawatts to 100 megawatts for eight to 12 hours.

The larger system is intented for huge utility applications and is still under development. The smaller system, called the VRB-ESS (the ESS standing for Energy Storage System), is being positioned as back-up power for utility and telecom applications and as temporary energy storage for off-grid renewable energy systems, such as those based on wind or solar with less predictable patterns of energy capture.

First commerical sales are being targeted at the cellular phone industry through a distribution and co-development deal with Magnetek Inc.

“This will enable VRB Power and Magnetek to offer an alternative to traditional lead acid battery technology with a reliable and environmentally safe energy storage product for switching centers and wireless base stations,” the companies said in a release last April.

Mark Kuntz, hired in November as VRB’s vice-president of marketing and business development, told me in an interview earlier this year that telecom customers across North America have expressed huge interest in the technology as a replacement for lead-acid batteries, which are changed out in three-year intervals.

“If you look at it from a life-cycle perspective, ignoring all the issues of lead disposal, after about five years we’re definitely the economic choice,” said Kuntz.

To see VRB’s 5 kilowatt ESS system compared to lead-acid batteries, click here. Essentially, VRB’s technology is a competitor to lead-acid, lithium-ion and future fuel-cell systems such as solid-oxide technology from Kingston-based Fuel Cell Technologies.

Jonathan Hykawy, an energy analyst with Fraser Mackenzie in Toronto, provides this analysis in a March 21 research note:

“Conventional wisdom ascribes the cause of looming ‘power shortages’ to a lack of generating capacity, but that is technically incorrect. There is a mismatch of energy supply and demand. The appropriate amount of energy can be generated by existing assets but it cannot be delivered as rapidly as required with existing tools. There is no technology in the current market that can cost-effectively store the electrical energy produced in off-peak periods, when demand is low, for later use during peak periods.”

He continues by saying the flow battery technology being developed — and readied for sale — by VRB Power changes this. With both systems, the company has the potential to “turn the power industry upside down” by allowing for better management of power supply and demand. It makes it easier to capture energy produced through from hydroelectric facilities and other Kyoto-friendly technologies such as wind and solar so that it can be consumed when industry, business and homeowners need it.

“We are confident that the technology developed by VRB Power is capable of being sold on an economic basis for motivated customers,” concluded Hykawy.

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