Switzerland is excavating a huge cavity in the town of Laufenburg to house an energy infrastructure that promises to be unique in the world, according to the newspaper. . The hole, comparable in surface area to two football fields and with a depth similar to an eight-story building, will be used to install a gigantic battery based on a technology born in the 19th century.
The project is promoted by the company FlexBase Group and aims to convert this facility into the largest redox flow battery ever built. The forecast is for it to come into operation in 2029.
The facility will have a capacity of 2.1 GWh and a power of 1.2 GW, levels similar to those of The total investment could exceed 5.5 billion euros.
Although the excavation seems typical of a mine or a large underground work, the objective is different: store renewable energy. The idea is to save electricity when there is excess production, for example on days with a lot of sun or wind, and use it later when demand increases or generation falls.
This is where a technology with ancient roots comes into play. Redox flow batteries were first proposed in 1879 and later developed by NASA. They work using electrolyte fluids to store energy, something very different from conventional lithium batteries.
Its main advantage is durability. These batteries degrade much less over time, are considered safer and can operate for many years without losing too much capacity.
The problem is its size. They require huge tanks and a lot of space, making them difficult to use in small devices or in densely populated cities. That is why gigantic projects like the one in Laufenburg are one of the few places where this technology can be deployed on a large scale.
If the calendar is met, Switzerland could become one of the great European references in the energy storage, a piece considered key to sustaining the growth of renewable energies and avoiding problems in the electrical networks of the future.
