SK On and SK Innovation are joining hands with Standard Energy, a domestic energy storage system (ESS) specialist based on vanadium ion battery (VIB) technology, to bolster their ESS business.
The strategy is to strengthen battery safety by expanding the portfolio in the ESS business from lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries to VIBs, which have high fire safety.
SK On and SK Innovation said on Jan. 6 that they signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) the previous day with Standard Energy at the company’s headquarters in Daedeok-gu, Daejeon, for “technical development of secondary batteries and business cooperation.”
Attendees included SK On President Lee Seok-hee, SK On Future Technology Institute head Park Gi-su, SK Innovation Environmental Science and Technology Institute head Kim Pil-seok, and Standard Energy CEO Kim Bu-gi.
The core of the agreement is technical cooperation to advance the performance of high-safety, high-output VIBs for ESS suitable for “short-duration ESS.”
ESS is divided into short-duration and long-duration depending on storage time; short-duration ESS typically stores and discharges energy for less than four hours. It is mainly used in data centers and industrial facilities, where repeated high-output operation is required in short cycles, making safety and output performance critical. VIBs use an electrolyte with water as the main component, eliminating fire and explosion risks, and their high output makes them suitable for short-duration ESS.
The three companies plan to combine their core technological strengths to enhance performance and price competitiveness. Based on its mass-production experience, SK On will expand technical cooperation with Standard Energy from raw material procurement to materials, cells, and the battery management system (BMS). They will also pursue differentiated technologies such as large-area cell design. SK Innovation will improve material performance by developing electrolyte additives and seek cost-reduction measures by using vanadium recovered from refining processes.
Standard Energy’s VIB ESS, which has been supplied to many customers, was installed in downtown Seoul under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) regulatory sandbox without a single incident, and has since been installed and operated in subway stations and inside buildings with heavy foot traffic, verifying its safety and performance.
Through this cooperation, SK On has expanded its product portfolio to VIBs, following NCM (nickel, cobalt, manganese) and LFP. President Lee Seok-hee said, “With this collaboration, we can jointly develop ESS VIBs with excellent fire safety and further solidify our product portfolio,” adding, “Based on globally competitive technology, we will deliver new value to customers.”
