6K Cycles

Apr 29, 2026 | Aqueous Battery Brief

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April 29, 2026 • Estimated reading time: 2 – 3 minutes.

Adoption, Deals, and Tech

Sumitomo Electric Lands 11MW/33MWh VRFB Deal

Sumitomo Electric Industries (Sumitomo Electric), the electrical equipment manufacturer and subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Group, has been selected to supply a 11MW/33MWh vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) system for Hokkaido Electric Power Network (HEPCO), the electricity system operator and utility for Japan’s Hokkaido region.

The Sumitomo Electric VRFB will support grid integration of wind energy in Hokkaido, northern Japan, and will also further the ‘Zero Carbon City’ goal of Abira City, where HEPCO’s Minami-Hayakita substation is located. The project is scheduled for completion by the end of May 2029.

Read more in Energy Storage News.

SorbiForce’s Pathbreaking Non-Metal Organic Battery Pilot

Storage startup SorbiForce touts the world’s first non-metallic organic battery – using carbon, salt, water, and agricultural waste, with no mining or toxic materials required for the technology. Now, the Arizona-based company has landed a 15kWh pilot with a U.S. partner. Learn more about the deal, and SorbiForce’s 30-year lifespan system with millisecond response time for data centers, in Battery Technology.

All-Iron Breakthrough: 0 Capacity Loss at 6K Cycles

A research team at the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has prototyped an all-iron flow battery with zero capacity loss at 6,000 cycles. As reported in Interesting Engineering, throughout this period the system remained free of harmful by-products or sediment while achieving 99.4% leak-proof efficiency. Even at high power outputs, it retained 78.5% of its energy efficiency. Read the story.

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Aqueous Deep Dives

When Lithium’s Numbers Don’t Add Up

Cost per kilowatt hour makes lithium look attractive — possibly because it misses the real costs of long-duration storage. Read why LDES needs a new unit of sale, in the latest from Forbes: Why The Battery Industry’s Favorite Metric Is Costing Utilities Billions.

The Case for Zinc-Powered AI

AI-era data centers pose new power demands that are wholly different from traditional grid requirements. Zinc batteries are extremely well poised to solve them, argues zinc energy giant Eos in a new white paper.

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Mark Your Calendars

📆 Get ahead of your planning with the Aqueous Energy Events Calendar in our December 29th Aqueous Battery Brief.

📌 Two events in particular to keep in mind:

  • The BCI Convention + Power Mart Expo, May 3 – 6.
    🔋 Octet will participate in the event’s Tech Track Breakout session on advanced electrolytes for aqueous batteries, May 6th at 10 AM.

  • EverZinc’s 4th R-Zinc conference, May 6 – 7. Use the code discount26RZinc during checkout. Details & registration.

Webinar: LDES Council Report Findings

On May 13th, the LDES Council will present findings from “Unlocking the Value of Long Duration Energy Storage in New England: Grid Modelling of Long Duration Storage Use Cases”, developed in collaboration with Telos Energy. Register.

Who’s Hiring

Seeking a new role — or know someone who is? Start with the quick links to aqueous firms’ open roles pages and specific roles below.

👩‍🔬 Open Roles Pages (Multiple Roles)

👨‍🔬 Specific Openings

Have a specific open position you’d like to highlight? Send us an e-mail.

Octet Case Study: $7.5M in Projected Savings

Case Study

Read how Octet identified a path to 10% greater round-trip efficiency

by testing 30+ electrolyte additives.