{"id":1579,"date":"2026-03-25T05:42:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T05:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/?p=1579"},"modified":"2026-03-25T05:42:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T05:42:54","slug":"quino-signs-joint-development-deal-with-jena-for-flow-battery-energy-storage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/2026\/03\/25\/quino-signs-joint-development-deal-with-jena-for-flow-battery-energy-storage\/","title":{"rendered":"Quino signs joint development deal with Jena for flow battery energy storage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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California-based Quino Energy<\/a> has signed a joint development agreement with Germany-based Jena Flow Batteries<\/a> to provide the former\u2019s electrolyte for the latter\u2019s energy storage hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quino\u2019s electrolyte chemistry<\/a> is based on quinone, an organic compound, and is intended to replace vanadium in flow batteries to compete with lithium-ion batteries for grid energy storage. Jena, a subsidiary of China-based Suqian Time Energy Storage, develops and markets flow battery systems for industrial and utility applications, primarily in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eugene Beh, CEO of Quino, told pv magazine USA<\/strong> that the Jena deal is an aspect of his company\u2019s strategy to focus on electrolyte production while partnering with manufacturers of commercially available flow-battery stacks in order to deliver battery-based energy storage (BESS) systems. He said the companies had been working together for about two years on the technical side, and the announcement is more of a formalization of an existing arrangement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJena\u2019s battery hardware is currently optimized for a different electrolyte,\u201d Beh said. \u201cLike tuning your engine for different fuels, we will work with them on optimizing their hardware for our formulation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quino\u2019s electrolyte formulation is non-toxic, derived largely from relatively inexpensive and abundant dyestuff chemicals, and is rated for deployment in locations with high populations or environmental sensitivity. While Jena\u2019s batteries are working with an existing metal-free electrolyte formulation, these may not be appropriate for all applications. Beh said the EU has stringent rules for toxicity and Quino\u2019s formulation will open up new deployment opportunities for Jena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, Jena\u2019s flow battery stacks will enable Quino to pursue commercial BESS projects in the U.S. and elsewhere. In 2025, Quino was awarded $10 million in grant funding from the California Energy Commission for an 5 MWh flow battery project at the High Desert Regional Health Center, designed to provide critical emergency backup power and resilience. Beh said Quino hasn\u2019t selected a hardware supplier for that project, but Jena\u2019s system would be a strong contender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn fact, we are going to be using their hardware in some commercial demonstrations as well, the first of which you\u2019ll see in the second half of this year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One potential issue in selecting Jena as a supplier is ownership by China\u2019s Suqian, which manufactures most of the battery hardware. This triggers U.S. content requirements as well as China\u2019s status as a foreign entity of concern, both of which could affect federal financial incentives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Beh, if you pair made-in-USA electrolyte with hardware made outside of the U.S. for domestic commercial projects, then the systems qualify for incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and other regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou never know; the rules could be revised again, right?\u201d he said. \u201cBut at the current cost structure, key components can come from manufacturers in China and still qualify for IRA credits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key benefit of joint development deals with hardware makers like the one with Jena is that Quino can focus on manufacturing a single formulation that will work across multiple battery types. Beh pointed out that any changes in electrolyte formulation would require a new round of chemical permits and toxicology approvals for each variation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quino produces electrolyte on a test basis at its headquarters facility and on a larger scale \u2013 approximately 25 MWh per year \u2013 at its manufacturing partner\u2019s plant near Buffalo, New York. Last year, the company reached an agreement with Atri Energy Transition to produce electrolyte in India, which could amount to 150 MWh per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cActually, 150 MWh is not very much when you think about the energy storage industry,\u201d Beh said. \u201cBut we have the knowhow to replicate that model in other locations very quickly. As long as the customers are there and our hardware suppliers manufacture flow battery stacks, we\u2019ll keep our end of the bargain and make electrolyte.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

California-based Quino Energy has signed a joint development agreement with Germany-based Jena Flow Batteries to provide the former\u2019s electrolyte…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-company"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1579"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1581,"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1579\/revisions\/1581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.esplaza.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}