potential of clean energy, Lockheed Martin has developed GridStar Flow: an … Contact online >>
potential of clean energy, Lockheed Martin has developed GridStar Flow: an
Engineered for the future of energy, GridStar Flow is an innovative redox flow
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FORT CARSON, Colo. — The Hon. Rachel Jacobson, assistant secretary of the Army, Installations, Energy and Environment, and Maj. Gen. David Doyle, commanding general, 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson, cut the ceremonial ribbon celebrating a new energy-efficient, large flow battery system pilot program Nov. 20, on Fort Carson.
"The ''GridStar Flow'' battery is the future of energy storage and sustainability at Fort Carson, the U.S. Army and Department of Defense," said Dr. Andrew Nelson, director, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "It''s a long-duration energy storage system on a military installation holding 10 Mega-Watt hours of energy."
The one-megawatt ''GridStar Flow'' energy storage system is able to discharge energy for 10 hours. This equates to 400 homes which will be able to receive uninterrupted power, said Joe Wyka, deputy garrison commander.
The ''GridStar Flow'' battery involved a lot of collaboration from Fort Carson''s Directorate of Public Works, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Omaha District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Huntsville, Colorado Springs Utilities and Lockheed Martin to enhance Fort Carson''s energy resilience.
Steven Botwinik, vice president of Advanced Programs Execution and Transition, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, gave more insight on the ''GridStar Flow'' battery.
"The ''GridStar Flow'' demonstration unit is a one-megawatt demonstrator that will discharge power for up to 10 hours to enhance grid resiliency for the U.S. Army Fort Carson. And it's the first of its kind. No other product can provide this level of robust flexible energy storage while sustaining power for extended periods of time."
For more information about Fort Carson''s initiatives visit https://home.army.mil/carson/.
Construction has begun on a megawatt-scale flow battery project at the US Army''s Fort Carson in Colorado.
An event was held last week (3 November) to mark the breaking of ground at the project, which will see a 1MW/10MWh long duration flow battery energy storage system supplied by Lockheed Martin installed.
It marks one of the first pilot projects for the aerospace and defense industry engineering specialist''s flow battery. Called GridStar Flow, Lockheed Martin had been developing the product behind closed doors for several years, since it acquired the assets of flow battery manufacturer and MIT spinout Sun Catalytix in 2014.
The first commercial-scale version of the battery system was installed at Lockheed Martin''s Andover, Massachusetts, testing facility in 2020. The first field pilot was announced in December 2021, a 6.5MW/52MWh (eight-hour) system at a solar PV plant in Alberta, Canada.
The Fort Carson project was announced in June this year. Over a two-year period, the flow battery will be run and assessed in accordance with protocols developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), in a tailored programme coordinated by utility Colorado Springs Utilities.
Lockheed Martin said when the project was announced that the anticipated construction time is eight to nine months.
The battery system will enable Fort Carson to reduce its draw of electricity from the grid at peak times, lowering its electricity costs and easing strain on the grid. Meanwhile in the event of grid outages, the flow battery will provide critical must-run and backup power to the fort.
It''s the largest long-duration energy storage (LDES) system to be installed at a US Department of Defense facility – defined as over six hours duration in this instance – but the battery''s chemical contents remain top secret.
Lockheed Martin has not revealed GridStar Flow''s electrolyte chemistry and only offered a few hints to the effect that it is more abundant material than commonly found in other flow batteries – the main types of which are usually vanadium or zinc-bromide – and cheaper.
In an online briefing with journalists, Lockheed Martin business development director Roger Jenkins also said the electrolyte''s composition is benign. Unlike vanadium which has to be dissolved in acid, the GridStar Flow electrolyte doesn''t cause significant wear and tear on balance of plant (BOP) equipment, Jenkins claimed.
"GridStar Flow, our long-duration energy storage system, is comprised of engineered electrolytes made from commonly available materials to enable durability, flexibility and competitive total cost of ownership," Lockheed Martin VP for advanced programmes Steve Botwinik said at last week''s ceremony to launch the project.
The Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) at the US Army''s Engineer Research & Development Center (ERDC) will manage the Fort Carson flow battery system. ERDC awarded Lockheed Martin a US$17.5 million contract for the project.
Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. He covers stadiums, sneakers, gear, infrastructure, and more for a variety of publications, including Popular Mechanics. His favorite interviews have included sit-downs with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and Tinker Hatfield in Portland.
The battery may bring long-duration, large-capacity energy storage to bases around the world.
''Innovative long-duration storage technology'' from Lockheed Martin will be deployed at the US Army''s Fort Carson in Colorado.
A megawatt-scale unit of the aerospace and defense technology company''s GridStar Flow flow battery energy storage system will provide back up power in case of grid outages and reduce fossil fuel consumption at the facility.
The system will be 1MW/10MWh, enabling 10-hours discharge of stored energy at 1MW output. Lockheed Martin said yesterday that the battery system will be tested over a period of about two years in line with protocols developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), one of the US Department of Energy''s national labs and in a tailored programme created with local utility Colorado Springs Utilities.
It''s the biggest installation to date of a long-duration energy storage (LDES) technology at a US military site. Lockheed Martin expects to break ground on the project later this year, with construction to last about eight to nine months.
The Forces already have a number of lithium-ion battery systems, including a 4.25MW/8.5MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at Fort Carson which itself was supplied by Lockheed Martin in 2019 but tests of systems at longer discharge durations have been limited to much smaller flow batteries, with differing electrolyte chemistries to GridStar Flow.
Flow batteries offer distinct advantages over lithium-ion for several reasons, some of which are particularly applicable to the military''s needs for the project and at other ''mission critical'' facilities, Lockheed Martin business development director Roger Jenkins said in an online briefing for journalists.
"With lithium-ion, the power and energy are fused together in a single package. If you want to have longer duration lithium above four hours [discharge duration] you''re basically buying power capacity you don''t need, that''s redundant," Jenkins said.
"With flow you can separate the megawatts and how long you need them for by sizing the electrolyte tanks."
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