Leith Elsegood, principal of Redflow WA partner, TIEC ElectricalWA stockfeed supply company Semini Custom Feeds has ordered a 60-battery Large Scale Battery (LSB) – Australia’s largest Redflow-based energy storage system - to cut its fuel and energy costs by 80 per cent.

Working with Redflow’s WA partner, TIEC Electrical, Semini Custom Feeds expects the 600 kilowatt-hours (kWh) system to cut its costs by about $120,000 per year based on current expenditure on diesel, maintenance and mains power.

The Redflow LSB is a powerful integrated system for deploying as many as 60 Redflow zinc-bromine flow batteries in large energy storage systems, delivering as much as 600kWh of energy storage capacity and comprehensive redundancy capabilities. Once the Redflow LSB and 400 kilowatts-peak (kWp) photovoltaic (PV) solar panel system is deployed, the family-owned business, located at Cowaramup, 260km south-east of Perth, near Margaret River, will also eliminate its need to buy electricity from the grid. The design aims to mitigate 80 per cent of the diesel and servicing costs and all costs for grid-connected services.

The Semini Custom Feeds order is the latest success for TIEC Electrical and Redflow in the WA agricultural sector. Last year, TIEC installed Redflow batteries at multiple rural sites including a WA orchard that has beaten bushfire blackouts and a rural “dream home” that has saved more than $100,000 by not connecting to the electricity grid.

Semini Custom Feeds CEO and Managing Director Jack Semini said the Redflow batteries, coupled with PV solar panels, would greatly reduce the company’s operational overheads. “Once TIEC has set up this system, it will greatly reduce the amount of diesel we need, which will be good for both our profitability and for the environment,” he said.

During the past three decades, Semini Custom Feeds has established itself as a leading local supplier of various types of stock feed for properties in south-west WA. However, as the business grew, so did the cost and complexity of supplying its energy requirements as it supplemented mains power with a series of diesel generators to meet its power needs.

The on-site power plant eventually expanded to comprise five diesel generators capable of producing 900 kilovolt-amperes (kVA) of power. As well as cost, the company found that not all the power produced by the generators was required at the same time, so a lot of excess energy was wasted.

To mitigate this energy loss, Semini Custom Feeds implemented a manual and later automatic power management system to harness as much energy as possible. Unfortunately, this system was both difficult to manage and did not meet its cost-saving or environmental goals.

After Semini Custom Feeds approached TIEC Electrical for options to overhaul and expand its on-site energy production plant, TIEC principal Leith Elsegood highlighted the advantages of Redflow’s flow battery technology as a superior alternative to lithium-ion batteries. “We were able to demonstrate that batteries using conventional solid-state chemistries don't offer the long-term energy storage requirements, safety properties and longevity needed by a fully off-grid site,” he said.

“The Redflow-based system offers major upsides in both cost savings and for the environment.”

Mr Semini said his company’s operations required batteries to deliver energy day-in, day-out, working hard for 10 hours or more across the entire site. “I am convinced that a Redflow battery energy storage system can match the performance of diesel generators in providing stable and reliable power - all the while reducing our reliance on fossil fuels,” he said. 

Redflow worked with TIEC Electrical to understand the customer requirements and to design an updated Large Scale Battery system which will be built from 60 x 10kWh zinc-bromine flow batteries.

Redflow Managing Director and CEO Tim Harris said the company was delighted that its energy storage technology was chosen for this important project. “Following deployment, intended for the first quarter of next year, it will be Redflow’s largest single energy system in Australia,” he said.

“This important milestone for Redflow demonstrates how our new Large Scale Battery design can scale successfully to meet customers’ larger industrial requirements and broader utility-scale deployments.”

For media assistance, please contact:

• Redflow PR - John Harris, phone 08 8431 4000, email john@impress.com.au
• TIEC Electrical PR - Sean Elsegood, phone 0414 389 632, email sean@axiomdp.com.au

About TIEC Electrical http://www.tiec.com.au/

TIEC Electrical’s team of qualified electricians and technicians provide complete electrical contractor services for commercial, industrial and residential projects as well as specialist electrical solutions for aerodromes and renewable energy applications. TIEC provides renewable energy systems through its subsidiary Renewable Battery Storage Solutions (RBSS).

About Redflow www.redflow.com

Redflow Limited, a publicly-listed Australian company (ASX: RFX), produces zinc-bromine flow batteries that tolerate daily hard work in harsh conditions. Marketed as ZCell and ZBM2, Redflow batteries are designed for deep cycling, long-duration stationary energy storage applications in the commercial & industrial and telecommunications sectors, and are scalable from a single battery installation through to grid-scale deployments. Redflow batteries are sold, installed and maintained by an international network of energy system integrators. Redflow’s smart, self-protecting batteries offer unique advantages including secure remote management, 100% daily depth of discharge, tolerance of high ambient temperatures, a simple recycling path, no propensity for thermal runaway and sustained energy delivery throughout their operating life.

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