The world’s largest flow battery energy storage system is being built in Switzerland

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In the Swiss town of Laufenburg, at the junction of the borders of Switzerland, Germany, and France, construction has begun on one of the most ambitious energy projects in recent years – the Technology Center Laufenburg (TZL). This is not only a record-breaking flow battery (redox) energy storage system in terms of scale but also a symbol of the upcoming transformation of Europe’s energy landscape.

800 MW / 1.6 GWh – A New Benchmark for Energy Storage

The project involves the construction of an energy storage facility with a power output of 800 MW and a capacity of 1600 MWh. These parameters are unmatched both in Europe and globally. For comparison, the currently largest operational redox flow battery is in China, with 175 MW of power and 700 MWh of capacity. The Laufenburg project will be developed by FlexBase Group in collaboration with Erne Group.

Construction work began in May 2025. Completion of the structural framework is expected by the end of 2027, with commercial operations scheduled to start in the summer of 2028. Full operational capacity is planned for 2030. At that point, the facility is expected to become not only the world’s largest redox flow battery but also one of Europe’s most important energy and data management hubs.

Redox Instead of Lithium

The foundation of the project lies in redox flow batteries, which use liquid electrolytes (usually based on vanadium or bromine) containing up to 75% water to store energy. This technology is not only highly safe (non-flammable and non-explosive) but also ideally suited for long-duration energy storage.

According to FlexBase, economies of scale work in favor of this project: the larger the storage facility, the lower the unit cost of stored energy. This allows the investment to compete with currently popular lithium-ion technologies.

Laufenburg – The Heart of the European Energy System

Laufenburg is not a random location. It was here, in the 1950s, that the legendary “Laufenburg Star” substation was established, the first to integrate the power systems of Switzerland, Germany, and France. Today, it is a hub with 41 transmission lines, playing a key role in cross-border energy exchange. The new storage facility will be directly connected to this infrastructure, opening possibilities for:

  • cross-border energy trading (market arbitrage),
  • reactive power compensation,
  • supporting the grid during peak demand,
  • emergency power supply for local digital infrastructure.

AI, Waste Heat, and Sustainability

The investment goes beyond energy storage. An integral part of TZL will be a data center supporting AI applications. It will be intensively cooled with water, and the waste heat from computational processes will be fed into the local district heating network.

This integration of energy, digital, and thermal systems positions Laufenburg as a model development for multifunctional energy hubs that combine IT infrastructure, renewable energy, energy storage, and local heating systems.

Private Investors and Academic Support

The project is funded by private investors, including family-owned companies from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Liechtenstein. The estimated cost is around €1 billion. It will also receive support from universities and tech companies. This funding model reflects the growing interest of institutional investors in long-duration energy storage technologies as stable and scalable infrastructure assets.

Source: energy-storage.news

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