P. J. Šafárik University in Košice, University of Technology in Košice and the Slovak company INO-HUB Energy have successfully completed testing and produced a revolutionary flow battery that will be mass-produced as early as 2026
On 18 January 2024, a press conference was held at the P. J. Šafárik University in Košice to celebrate the successful completion of testing and production of the revolutionary flow battery, which will be mass-produced as early as 2026.
The Institute of Chemical Sciences of the Faculty of Science, P. J. Šafárik University in Košice, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Technical University in Košice and the Slovak company INO-HUB Energy participated in the joint research. Despite the complexity of the project, the cooperation has already resulted in the final form of a fully functional 80 kWh flow battery in just 10 months of design, optimisation and testing. This type of battery will reduce Slovakia’s dependence on imports from Asia and put it on the map of competitive countries. Its production will help Slovak engineering, chemical and other companies to become an important part of the flow battery supply chain in Europe
Long-term research cooperation will support the hitherto missing education within battery systems, linking science with research and qualifying future professionals for practice.
According to doc. RNDr. Andrea Strakova Fedorkova, PhD., head of the RFB Technology Laboratory at the Institute of Chemical Sciences of the Faculty of Science, P.J. Šafárik University in Košice, the result of long-term research cooperation between universities and the private sector also carries other huge benefits. Thanks to it, universities can better link science with research in the field of battery systems and introduce topics into their curricula that were previously unknown to their students. Students from both universities have already been involved in the design, optimisation and testing of the battery and there are plans to introduce the same type of battery into teaching itself in the near future, as well as to launch a process for industrial PhDs in collaboration with INO-HUB Energy.
