This text is part of the special Quebec engineering booklet
Finding an affordable way to store renewable energies such as wind and solar power is Marc-Antoni Goulet’s mission. The assistant professor at Concordia University conducts research to enable an energy transition by creating flow batteries that work with synthetic materials.
In 2021, six gigawatts (GW) of power was added in batteries for grid storage globally, according to figures released by the International Energy Agency. By 2030, it will be necessary to have installed 680 GW of batteries in order to ensure the energy transition. “It’s a market that is growing very quickly,” explains the man who is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at Concordia University.
And due to limited natural resources, batteries based on lithium or vanadium will struggle to meet this growth. “The idea behind my work is really to produce a battery with a lower cost than lithium ones. We try to do this in such a way as to avoid mining materials,” says the researcher.
Mr. Goulet therefore aims to develop flow batteries designed using synthetic materials. “Those that have been around since the 1980s and are based on materials such as vanadium are limited by the costs and price fluctuations of the materials,” he says. The idea of synthetic molecules as a means of energy storage is that they do not need to be mined from the ground. So there are no quantity restrictions. »
Thus, the main challenge of his work is to create molecules with good enough performance and stability to compete with batteries made of mining materials. Research is carried out in partnership with synthetic chemists and engineers.
It was in 2021 that Mr. Goulet began his research project at Concordia University. Today, he is setting up his laboratory. “I am in the process of installing the equipment, recruiting the students and forming collaborations with other researchers at Concordia, McGill and the Université de Montréal,” he says.
These batteries could eventually be of interest to electricity generating companies elsewhere in Canada or around the world. “In general, these are systems the size of a house or even a football field”, illustrates Mr. Goulet.
Its work aims, in particular, to develop a large-scale battery that can be installed in solar or wind power plants. “It would allow these companies to put more on the networks and replace other energy sources that emit GHGs,” summarizes Mr. Goulet.
Flow batteries are really similar to fuel batteries in terms of operation, adds the one who completed a postdoctoral on the subject at Harvard University in Boston. “I joined a group there that invented flow batteries based on synthetic molecules to learn more about cutting-edge research in this field,” says Mr. Goulet.
Ensuring the transition to renewable energies
In order to be able to increase the distribution of solar or wind energy on the electrical networks, such batteries are needed, explains Mr. Goulet. “These are intermittent sources of electricity. When the sun goes down, there is no more electricity entering the solar panels. When the wind is weak, the same, ”he illustrates. Flow batteries therefore make it possible to store energy when the sun is at its zenith or the wind is favorable. “It’s to be able to give back this electricity when the sources are weaker, during the night or when there is little wind,” adds the researcher.
Mr. Goulet is working on the development of flow batteries from synthetic molecules with the aim of reducing environmental costs as well. “The combination of solar panels or wind turbines with a battery must cost less than other options, such as natural gas, which emit greenhouse gases. »
An opportunity to innovate
During his doctoral studies at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Mr. Goulet specialized in the field of electrochemistry and fuel cells. It was during this period that he became interested in renewable energies, he says. “The batteries are really the only way to distribute them all over the world,” he believes.
An opportunity that Quebec should seize, believes the researcher. “Wherever the batteries are installed, it really is an important innovation and export opportunity that Quebec should not ignore. »
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.