Date: Mar 14, 2019
The sales pitch of a flow battery is that you simply need to replace a few filters, a pump or two over time, and the thing will run for as long as the container holding the battery is protected from the elements. So you get amazing flow battery warranties of 20+ years, but what’s the piece of paper worth if the manufacturer joins the graveyard of technology companies? In this case, you learn the term “bankable”.
One way to protect against the risk inherent with new ideas and companies with smaller bank accounts is to find a larger company that is an expert at assessing risk. Enter the insurance industry.
Munich Re, a German re-insurance group with €49.1 billion in global revenue in 2017, is now offering a 10-year insurance plan on the performance and hardware of ESS’s iron flow battery. The reinsurance company developed a “Project Cover” that backs up ESS’s already existing 20,000+ cycle lifetime (assuming one cycle per day 50 years).
