Recently, Suqian Times Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. officially released the “Standard Module for Frequency Regulation-oriented Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Battery” and announced that the aqueous organic redox flow battery energy storage frequency regulation system jointly developed with Xi’an Thermal Power Research Institute (TPRI) completed full-scenario verification at Huaneng Luoyuan Power Plant in December 2024. This milestone marks that liquid flow battery frequency regulation energy storage technology has achieved a leading position in the industry.
Technological Innovation: Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Battery Solves Industry Pain Points
The newly released frequency regulation-oriented standard module is the next-generation product from Suqian Times following its long-duration aqueous organic redox flow energy storage system. Using its independently developed “aqueous organic electrolyte system,” the module maintains intrinsic safety (no risk of combustion or explosion) while achieving an ultra-long frequency regulation lifespan, capable of stable operation for 20 years under frequency regulation conditions. “The aqueous organic redox flow battery frequency regulation system addresses critical issues plaguing traditional lithium batteries, such as explosion risks from frequent charging/discharging and short service life requiring frequent cell replacement,” said Xiang Zhanbo, Chairman of Suqian Times. “The design of organic active molecules breaks the dependence of traditional flow batteries on metal resources like vanadium and zinc, and the neutral pH of the electrolyte significantly enhances environmental friendliness.”
Adopting a standardized container design, the module has a single-unit capacity of 400kW/400kWh and supports multi-module parallel expansion up to the hundred-megawatt level, enabling millisecond-level responsive coordination with thermal power units and new energy power stations. Field test data from Huaneng Luoyuan Power Plant showed that during verification, the system’s response time to frequency regulation commands stabilized within 100 milliseconds, with over 1,000 daily adjustment cycles.
Scenario Verification: Fujian Luoyuan Coal-Storage Co-regulation Project Sets Industry Benchmark
As a demonstration project for aqueous organic redox flow battery coal-fired power storage co-regulation, the collaboration between Suqian Times and Huaneng Xi’an TPRI spanned eight months, successfully completing empirical validation at Huaneng Luoyuan Power Plant in December 2024 and marking a crucial leap from R&D to engineering application. Operational data shows that aqueous organic redox flow battery energy storage technology is feasible and cost-effective for improving the frequency regulation performance of thermal power units, opening new pathways for flexible retrofitting of traditional coal-fired power plants and their participation in the power auxiliary service market.
“The project validated the technical advantages of aqueous organic redox flow batteries under frequent charging/discharging conditions,” said Wu Pengyue, Director of the Electrical Technology Department at Huaneng Xi’an TPRI. “Suqian Times’ ‘energy storage hardware’ combined with Xi’an TPRI’s ‘smart frequency regulation control system’—integrating intelligent dispatch algorithms and operational strategy optimization—has been empirically verified at Huaneng Luoyuan Power Plant. We plan to further promote this frequency regulation technology using aqueous organic redox flow batteries across more power plants in the future.”
Industry Impact: Driving Diversified Development of New Energy Storage
The National Energy Administration’s recent “Notice on Promoting the Grid Connection and Scheduling of New Energy Storage” explicitly encourages exploring multi-energy storage technology collaboration in power system regulation, providing development opportunities for new energy storage technologies like liquid flow batteries. The successful application of aqueous organic redox flow batteries in frequency regulation breaks the single dominance of lithium batteries and injects new momentum into the diversified development of China’s energy storage technology.
Industry experts note that with the improvement of electricity market spot trading and auxiliary service mechanisms, frequency regulation-oriented liquid flow batteries with both economic and technical advantages are poised for large-scale promotion in grids with high new energy penetration. Suqian Times revealed that it has planned a 5GWh annual production line for liquid flow batteries and reached strategic agreements with multiple energy groups. The company will future carry out coal-storage co-regulation, independent energy storage frequency regulation power stations, and wind-solar coupled frequency regulation projects at more coal-fired power plants and new energy bases.
Company Profile
Suqian Time Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd., founded in 2021, is a company engaged in the research and development, manufacture and sales of redox flow batteries.
Since establishment of the company, it has in-depth co- operation with many domestic and foreign scientific re- search teams such as the University of Science and Technology of China，Xi’an Jiaotong University, and Changzhou University to jointly develop aqueous or- ganic flow batteries and key materials, and have over- come key technologies such as key material prepara- tion, stack amplification and battery assembly. The company has mastered a number of core technologies for aqueous organic flow batteries and built the first large-width anion exchange membrane production line in China. Currently, more than 40 patents have been ap- plied for, some items of technology have been support- ed by national key research and development projects.
