H2 Inc, a South Korean based manufacturer of vanadium flow battery energy storage systems, has recently completed a Series B financing of $18 million. The company stated last week that funds will be in place by the end of 2022. Of the $44 million raised by the company since the launch of its first vanadium flow battery (VRFB) product line in 2013, $32 million has been acquired in the past two years. The latest round of investors includes the Pohang Steel New Growth Fund, which is supported by one of South Korea's largest conglomerates, Pohang Steel, and managed by private equity fund manager Korea Growth Investment Company. H2 Inc broke ground and started construction on a large-scale production line in Guilong, South Korea last year, with an annual production capacity of 330MWh. It is planned to go live in 2023.

H2 Inc plans the largest VRFB project in the United States to date, a 5MW/20MWh (duration 4 hours) system located at the former natural gas peak shaving plant in California. If the project goes live as planned by the end of this year, it is likely to maintain its title as the "largest in the United States" for a period of time.

Dr. Shin Han, founder and CEO of H2 Inc, stated that the project is of great significance, stating that California is the "perfect test bed" for transitioning from natural gas used for peak shaving applications to long-term energy storage (LDES) assets such as flow batteries. He said that other states in the United States may closely monitor the project, and the South Korean government will also closely monitor whether flow batteries can play a greater role in renewable energy integration.

The latest version of H2 Inc's proprietary liquid flow battery system product is called Enerflow, with a rated output power of 250kW and a capacity of up to 2.5MWh (lasting for 10 hours). Like other liquid flow battery suppliers, the system design life of H2 Inc is about 20 years, capable of performing over 20000 cycles under deep discharge, while the typical cycle of lithium-ion batteries is about 5000 to 10000 cycles, although lithium-ion technology often has a relatively high cycle efficiency of over 90%.

A series of factors include targeted plans and funding specifically to support California's LDES, the widespread demand for larger capacity energy storage systems in many regions of the United States, and the expected impact of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), leading various industry participants and observers to see future opportunities for liquid flow batteries in the United States.

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